Omega
by Consort
Summary: While the war for Alterac rages, a new threat to the nexus has emerged, ready to sweep through the warring realms, consuming all. Some know this foe, some don't. Many will fight against it. The Omegaswarm has come. (Separate to Stormclouds entirely, follows what we know of canon)
1. Chapter 1

**Forenote: Welp, time to get overambitious! But my fave game getting no fanfiction kills me, I can't stand by any longer.**

 _Clink._

The sound of metal being set down on metal. Mira Han looked at the curious object on her desk. Where was she? And why was she here, with only a handful of her mercenary army?

And what on earth was this thing?

The strange metal artefact was unlike anything she had ever seen. Some kind of... 'primitive' protoss device, maybe? Three pieces of what appeared to be bronze or brass were shaped with great angles, wrapping around a large, floating, _glowing_ gemstone. But the gemstone seemed damaged. Well, not cracked or tarnished. But the glow had a decidedly feeble aura, like a toy low on batteries.

"Johnson, do we have any clue if this is important? We have bigger fishes to fry than a metal basketball." Mira drawled, looking out of the window of her ship.

"No ma'am. Viking squads can't find any kind of waypoint, and it looks like we're off the dominion FTL net. Radio is silent."

"Of course. I suppose it'd hardly be much fun if we were just going to take a trip straight back home." Mira said casually. "Set all systems to power-saving, and have the ship move for the nearest planet. You know the drill."

"Yes Ma'am."

Mira pondered the unexpected turn of events, coming to a conclusion she was less than happy with. "Ugh, I can't believe this would happen now. I had Horner just where I wanted him! The one time I've got him trapped in a date and I'M the no-show!" She threw her hands into the air. "Bring me alcohol." She slumped over dramatically, slapping the Singularity Shell.

There was a magnificent burst of blue light. Johnson shielded his eyes as Mira screamed for a solid three seconds, and then the light died.

"Ma'am?! Are you alright!?" Johnson blinked, clearing a few blue sparkles from his vision.

Mira was sitting in her chair looking a little frazzled. Where she'd previously been wearing a somewhat comfortable set of combat armour, she was still wearing the armour, but where there had just been metal on the chest, there was now a bronzed crest, set with a glowing blue crystal. Mira coughed once, then got up and kicked her chair aside, as a few blue sparks frizzed around her and her one good eye stopped acting as a torch.

"WHOO-wee!" She gasped. "That had quite a kick!" She clapped at her chest, feeling the new gem set onto her battle armour. "I wonder just what those sell for?" She breathed.

"Would you like to be escorted to the medbay for a checkup?"

"Ah Johnson, always the professional, my aide." Mira said, in mock care. "No. I've got the feeling that..." She pointed a finger at her chair, and stared. For a moment nothing happened, but then a blast of power shot out of her fingertip and turned the aging swivel chair into ash. "Ohoho. Be a dear and clear out the training range for me. Tell the boys they can help themselves to ONE shot of vodka on me."

Johnson had no idea that Mira had just become a lesser realm lord, but when your employer suddenly gains the ability to shoot blasts of energy from their fingertips, you tend to obey.

* * *

 **The Kingdom of Dragons  
**

"So, this so-called 'Dark Nexus...' Genn Greymane crossed his arms, looking over a map. "King Varian, what do you make of it?"

"While rumours fly, I can't confirm that it's as siginificant a threat as some believe it to be... Although I am inclined to trust the judgements of the Lady Queen." Varian moved a little red hexagonal token to one area of the map. "Valeera is investigating here, and I've made some preparations for seige. But I'm only commanding a city of alliance loyals right now. My castle is little more than a large manor, and armies five hundred men. If we become involved, then I want a rock-solid plan."

"A reasonable request. Lives are difficult to come by, after all." Genn pulled some papers, and began to study them.

The third and fourth members of the meeting decided it was time to weigh in. Jaina first. "We're sure the Raven Lord is behind it? He seems reasonable, although I question his ethics."

"Yes. There's no mistaking the fact that he's ordering all this. The real question is whether he manipulated the horde into helping him or they're just being malicious, like always." Answered Varian.

"If opportunity arises, then I'll find out, but as it is I think the only one of them who would hear me out is Thrall... and he seems to be avoiding me ever since Garrosh arrived." Jaina could recall the shift well, after that brute had been drawn into the nexus. Garrosh had been the worst of the orcs, living solely for violent conquest in the name of glory. There was difference in building a glorious nation through blood, tears and sweat, and blood alone. And he was beyond racist. Jaina was used to orcs hating her for being alliance, and humans hating orcs, but Garrosh... She cast the train of thought aside. All that mattered was that he'd told Thrall something that made her best diplomatic ally in the horde avoid her.

"At this rate, then we'll need more men." Added Uther. He was a general as well as a priest. He had faith and compassion, but he had the ability to look at a map and see armies destroying each other, with him leading one of them. "We have to arm and prepare, regardless of the Dark Nexus. The horde have gotten too bold. And with the way the struggle for Alterac is proceeding, we'd be easy pickings for a third party like Arthas."

"Arthas seems to be biding his time for now." Said Jaina. "I wouldn't want to try and speak with him the way he is, though..."

"That's exactly what we don't want. Biding his time how?" Asked Genn.

"I'll have Valeera find out. Uther, what are you proposing for an armament plan?"

The conversation didn't continue along the intended path much longer, as there was a blue cracking, then a glow, and finally a portal overlaid in a strange triangular effect blossomed in the corner of the room, effectively ending the discussions.

"A realm portal?" Said Uther, quickly grabbing his trusty hammer. "Varian, we weren't scheduled to meet anyone today. Get behind me, this may be a trap."

There was a slight 'shing' as the Shalamayne was drawn, Varian stepping up to Uther's side. "I think we have a better chance if we all fight."

"It may not be malicious!" Jaina shouted. She went to one corner and picked up her staff, before walking over. "Don't be hasty, please. It could well be a cry for aid." She bent over, looking at the portal carefully. Through the swirling miasma of blue, she could just make out a strange grey room... Perhaps made of metal?

"...Your thoughts, lady Jaina?" Said Greymane.

"Safe, to the best of my knowledge." She concluded. "It looks like a world not our own, with technologies beyond my understanding. I'll head through first. Varian, you and Uther are more important to the alliance." She stepped through before anyone had a chance to protest.

"Jaina! ...I won't let her go in alone. Come, Uther, Genn." Varian looked on in exasperation. "You're all armed and armoured?"

"Ready for anything, my king." Confirmed Greymane.

Varian marched into the portal, followed by his two closest allies. Apart from Valeera. But she was elsewhere.

 **Garden of Terrors**

Malfurion was deep in thought. This place was such a small corner of the realm, but it was growing. The energy here was chaotic, and while it was nature, it was unlike any of Azeroth.

Was it linked to the curse upon the Queen?

Or, to come to the concern Malfurion was currently dwelling on- would it be destroyed on suspicion of relation to such a curse?

The answer eluded him, for the moment. At ten thousand, he was wise enough to know that panic would only make his fears worse. He had to find the truth of the matter, and then he could either break the curse or make the people leave nature be. Of course, Lunara was already quite a strong deterrent to anyone that wanted to come here.

"Brother. She's bothering me again." Illidan said, voice holding back seventeen kinds of fury.

"Brightwing, I have told you that Illidan does not appreciate your commentary." Malfurion said sagely. "He only refrains from killing you because I would kick him out."

"Why not just let me have at her? The natural consequence for provoking a demon hunter is Death!" Illidan pouted.

There was high-pitched giggling at a distance. "Nature thinks that demon hunters are bad!"

Malfurion sighed. "Why not march on Alterac, with Lunara? I may offer you a place to stay, but I am not going to indulge your tendency towards chaos."

"You sent the general of your armies off, when you could have sent away that whelp?" Asked Illidan, folding his arms disapprovingly.

"She wanted to ensure that there was not excessive environmental destruction during the war. You know how she abhors it, much like her father... and myself. Besides, nature hardly has armies, brother." Malfurion chucked. "We have treants, and some night elves, and the other residents of the forest, and they simply fight to survive. That is how life works."

"Life is more complex than that. And- wait..." Illidan's head snapped around as if he'd locked onto his next target.

There was a rustle and then a flap of wings, before Illidan grabbed one of his warglaives, and spun. Brightwing hovered in the air next to him, looking out at something. "Brightwing sense something!"

Malfurion was the last one to detect the opening gateway. "An invitation from a realm lord? Nature is not at their beck and call." He said sternly, before relaxing his voice. "...But it may be wise to-"

Illidan reached over to one side, and put a hand behind Brightwing. "You check it out." He gave a shove, trying to push her into the convenient portal.

"Into adventure!" She shouted gleefully, grabbing onto Illidan's arm with both of her back legs and accelerating forwards. They both tumbled into the gateway.

Malfurion watched them both go in and ever so slightly shrugged. He got up, and calmly walked into the portal.

 **Braxis Outpost**

"So Artanis, how's Tassadar these days? Haven't seen him since that last rumble down on the earth realm." Raynor leaned back into the bar, careful of the half-full glass of whisky.

Artanis neglected to sit, finding the bar stool ill-designed for a protoss. "He is currently on alert in case Zeratul requires an evacuation. I take it Tychus and Nova are on the very same mission?"

"...Yeah. I guess when two leaders mutually call for an emergency meeting it's serious." Admitted Raynor. "So. I don't intend to beat around the bush. The Dark Nexus looks like it's originated from Ravencourt, and the Raven Lord is clearly in control."

"You think he's in control? Zeratul was quite suspicious that there was something afflicting his mind. As if there were a worry implanted there."

"That may not matter for the moment. The real question is what we're going to do about it. I have no problem allying with you, and regardless of some of my crew's pasts with the protoss, they'll listen to me."

"Strength in unity. But neither of us have the full power commanded by our armies. I have been looking into things, and there are many more peoples like yours. Can you recruit them?"

"Well, that's what I want to know. I'll go visit around. Until then, you just get your army's strength up. Maybe give your arkship a fix-up."

There was a knock at the door, before someone else threw it open. Morales and Hammer were both out of breath. "Commander, we have a problem."

"Are we under attack?"

"Yes!" Shouted Hammer. "And by half the goddamn galaxy by the looks of things!"

Morales had a better summary. "There's a large battlecruiser that seems to be partially made of scrap broadcasting every distress frequency we know, and some we don't, so we flagged it down. As it turns out, it was being followed by zerg- leader unknown."

 **Ravencourt**

Xul watched as the dark energy washed across the ground.

Darkness meant nothing without light. Light meant nothing without darkness. That was the very simplest part of The Balance. But when it came down to it, the balance was the ecosystem of all life and aspects of it, looked at objectively. You couldn't introduce major changes to delicate systems so suddenly...

What if light were to be extinguished? Or darkness illuminated, when light no doubt pushed back against this dark tide? The winner would soon become meaningless.

But there was another shift in the balance. Even to a master necromancer such as himself, it was difficult to detect. For this balance was not his own, but one of another reality entirely.

And it was his solemn duty to ensure the disruption did not upend the balance. Ravencourt would have to wait... for now.

 ** **Volskaya Industries: Break Room  
****

"Hey, hey hey. Watch this." Lúcio said with the widest smile. "Alexa. Unleash the roombas."

Zarya snorted, as Lúcio's phone registered the message. "I fail to see the point of these antique machines." Four or five small circular robots trundled across the room, as Rejúvenascia started to play from the phone, sucking up some of the dust in the foundry's break room.

"They're useful, right? Look at them go, haha!"

"I'd rather take a broom to any dust." Zarya said dismissively. "Did you travel to this realm only to show me some children's toys?"

"Nah, just everyone else is out. Dva just set up the roombas. Not sure where Tracer and Genji are, but Hanzo's still crushing on Alex, or uh, trying to figure if he's crushing on her. Better leave him to do that stuff. And Junkrat is... y'know. You wanna do some exercise? I've got just the track." Lúcio offered, knowing full well that Zarya's one true love in the world was working out.

Now if only he could work out what Dva liked aside from Starcraft... because as it was, she spent half her time chasing after her heroes. That poor probe had been photographed enough to charge a solar battery.

"Do you have anything that can last for five hundred pushups?"

"Yeah, there's..." He fiddled for a bit, until a track started playing. "How about... hmm..." A hint of a frown crossed Lúcio's face, and he leaned towards his phone. "Aw man! Have the speakers already started to go?! That's static in there, I'm sure of it!"

Zarya heard the sound next as a full portal blossomed in the corner of the room. "I don't think that was the speakers." She started clapping her hands. "If you don't have permission, get out of my realm, blyat. I have to keep it in order for when Katya arrives." She stomped over to the corner of the room, and grabbed her particle cannon.

"Whoa, whoa whoa whoa. Maybe they're trying to call us over? Don't wanna just blow up some guy's living room." Lucio got up very quickly, scrambling to grab his gear in case it actually was a threat. The nexus kept you on your toes that way.

"..." Zarya cranked the handle of her gun, and a veil of energy bubbled her. "Going in." She did exactly that, and went about halfway in before stepping out. "Seems like a gathering of some sort. Very you."

"Whoop, let's get this party started!" Lúcio leapt up, roombas forgotten at the prospect of a good crowd.

 ** **The Depths of 'Hell 2'****

Valla clicked a new hungering arrow into her crossbow. You could magically reload a normal bolt, but not magical bolts like the multishot.

There was a hissing to her left, and she reflexively vaulted backwards, bringing her bow up and sending twelve inches of hard oak tipped with steel through the skull of a demon.

"We're close! I can feel the presence of terror!" Cassia shouted, as she kept a few lesser demons off their flanks.

Valla knew that, but the demons of hell were exorbitantly strong with so many of their adversaries present. Herself, Cassia, Nazeebo, Sonya, Kharazim, Johanna and Tyreal himself. A full nephalem raiding party, with the wizard replaced by justice incarnate and the most skilled amazon since the founding of Skovos. Death closed in on them at every corner, waves of demons were slaughtered like nothing more than target dummies, and not one of them showed the slightest crack in psyche.

Valla did admit, that so far the raid had been much more successful than she had expected. Normally the enemies came in patterns that were difficult to deal with, or were at least somewhat organised, but they were running around like they were leaderless.

Yet she was certain this was where Diablo was hiding this time. The lord of terror had a blessing most unfortunate for the rest of the nexus, and ironically she wanted him to get as much use out of it as possible. Fast resurrection was a nuisance, but it gave her all too many chances to have the vengeance she desired.

Of course, her many vengeances didn't quell her greatest worry.

Death was not permanent within the nexus. That was common knowledge. You would always be revived, one way or the other.

The question was how.

If you died with a realm lord nearby (or a conduit of their power, like a core), then they could use that power to revive you in a short amount of time, ranging from a minute to ten seconds, just as you were before your untimely demise, memories and inventory intact. Resurrection this way was signalled by the body, or whatever was left of it dissolving into nexus energy, full of triangles and blue.

Or you could die the normal way, and suffer the consequences. When you respawned, then all memories you had of the nexus were forfeit. At first glance that was nothing, a tiny price to pay for eternal life. But Valla was on her second life, or so she was told. The thought that there were promises she'd made, experiences she'd shared, and lessons that she'd learned, wiped away without even a trace... was there any difference to a real death? There were times when people would talk about days past, battles she had been in, and she would know nothing. Yet still, everything from before her entry into this place was as present as always. Her discipline, and the horrors that required it were never to be lost.

And of course, if you died that way, then the respawn time was between six months and a full year.

"This is the door." Sonya annouced. "Are you ready?" She held her greatsword up high, as if the metal was weightless.

"Beware traps. They're simple but effective." Valla said automatically. She was the master of trapping, not the reverse.

Sonya nodded. She slammed the sword down hard, putting a giant crack into the doors. She rolled out of the way of any potential return fire, but nothing came.

The follow-up attack from Tyreal blew the doors clean off the hinges, sending them clattering across Diablo's chamber.

Valla looked around. Her immediate suspicion was that this was a diversion, an ambush, but this was quite unlike anything she recognised.

The circular stone room had many scratches in the walls, and scorch marks in many places. And aside from that, there were splatterings of black blood and a stranger substance, like some kind of putty that had since dried.

Johanna went in cautiously, shield up. "There are signs of a struggle. Diablo has clearly been here, but I cannot feel his power."

In the centre of the room, a portal started to open.

"Again, it may be a trap. But it may lead us forward." Noted Valla.

"Do not fret." Johanna stepped into the portal, prepared to call on her holy power to survive anything Diablo could throw at her. She stepped back out. "It's... a most curious room, filled with many other heroes."

 **Alterac Pass: Horde Camp  
**

"We should attack there. The spirits speak of a lowered Alliance presence." Drek'thar gestured far out into the distance.

Thrall shook his head. "While I trust the spirits, sending a full force attack there only leaves us open for them to charge. We need a better defence."

"I can quite easily stall an Alliance army in the central pass." Drek'thar assured. "If you take your sworn warriors, then you five should be more than capable of toppling a fortification. I will make sure any fallen are revived quickly."

Thrall nodded.

Gazlowe put a hand up. "Sworn warriors? Look, nowhere in my mercenary contract does it say I fight for anything but a nice fat bag of coins."

Rehgar cuffed him on the back of the head. "Could any Alliance retch convince you to defect?"

"Ow! Mind the face, it's worth a thousand bucks! And... eh... nah, market regulations are for chumps." Gazlowe admitted. "Alright, for the horde, there's a paycheck with my name on it at the end."

Drek'thar suddenly tensed up. "The spirit of the raven... I hear a message!" He gazed to the sky, trying to decipher the voice. "Thrall, change of plans. I will win the fight for Alterac alone. You have an urgent task."

"..." Thrall looked intently. He didn't want to leave a battle so equal. "How urgent?"

"You must defeat a growing threat at all costs. Take your warriors, and..." Drek'thar channeled power through one hand, before the floor in front of him started to glow, and a rift in reality began to grow. "Recruit or slay she who commands the endless army. For the horde!"

Thrall took one look at the portal and fiercely responded with a cheer of "For the Horde! I will see you again, my friend." He ran through, followed by Rehgar and Gazlowe.

 **Author's notes: So to make everyone got the message, this is completely separate from Stormclouds, my previous story. I will try to be canon-compliant at all times, but we are still a bit thin on the ground for lore- hence why I'm making some. The main focus of this story will be on the heroes available for Escape From Braxis and Deadman's Stand, so if your main is missing... sorry, but I have limits to what I can feasibly keep track of. Not that many heroes will even get a lot of time in spotlight.**

 **So please ask if you want me to focus on a character a little bit. There's a list below of the available heroes for the brawls. I know I didn't write the introduction for all of them, only the major ones and Xul.  
**

 **Warrior** : Artanis, Arthas, Johanna, Muradin, Sonya, Tyrael, Varian, Zarya

 **Support** : Brightwing, Kharazim, Li Li, Lt. Morales, Lúcio, Malfurion, Rehgar, Uther

 **Specialist** : Azmodan, Gazlowe, Sgt. Hammer, Nazeebo, Xul

 **Assassin** : Cassia, Falstad, Greymane, Gul'dan, Illidan, Jaina, Kael'thas, Kel'Thuzad, Ragnaros, Raynor, Thrall, Valla

 **This fic will not be updated frequently, because the Heroes archive is so quiet. If it gets really popular for some reason then I'll prioritise it, but it still probably won't update that fast.**


	2. Chapter 2: Landing

Mira looked over her hangar with the wildest smile, as heroes in varying states of confusion came out of portals she'd opened.

She clapped her hands together twice as loudly as she could, before they could start to talk amongst themselves, and then calmly vaulted over the railing, dropping down in front of the squadron she'd assembled.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you one and all to Mira Han's authentic life-and-death experience. I'm currently lost in the middle of nowhere space, with the zerg closing in on me, and no idea how to get my ship away from them. So, anyone know how to navigate me out of here, or at least open a bigger portal?"

"Send him away and we'll talk." Said Jaina sternly, pointing at Arthas. The lich king himself stood silent in the corner of the room, powers diminished by the nexus.

"I believe we stand to gain a lot if we work together here, Proudmoore." Said Kel'thuzad from Arthas' side. If they feared for their lives when they were outnumbered fifteen to one, they certainly didn't show it.

Jaina just glared. "I won't make a scene, but you look like you don't know who they are." She said to Mira. "I have to warn you-"

"I don't know who they are, but I don't care who they are." Said Mira. "Unless they have a plan to get us away from the zerg?"

"Why would the zerg be after you? I thought they were contained in Braxis?" Asked Johanna.

"Oh sweetie, you're clearly not from around here." Mira said. "They're pretty much everywhere, and it looks like these ones latched onto my distress signal."

"..." Jaina took a deep breath. "Okay, for the sake of preserving all our lives, I'll create a portal to somewhere near Braxis Holdout and you can bring this ship down safely there. I don't understand how your technology works, but don't try to warp because it might interfere with my magic. Once we're down, then I want to get off. Me and my allies have important matters to attend to. Everyone, I could use a boost." She took her staff, and most of the heroes amassed in the room stepped away.

Jaina started to channel the spell for a portal, and then Kael'thas stepped up to reinforce it, followed by a rather smug Kel'thuzad and then to almost everyone's distast, Gul'dan. Nonetheless, the mages were putting out a lot of arcane power, and the spell rapidly grew, to Mira's fascination. There was a sudden jump, followed by the muffled screaming of someone in the bridge of the ship.

Mira listened intently and was rewarded with the faraway sound of her helmsman screaming that they were suddenly far, far, far closer to a planet than expected, and that it was as if the planet had just appeared from nowhere.

"Well, ta very much!" Mira said enthusiastically. "I'm off to try and stop us all dying on impact, so you can all just stick around here and chat a bit. Ta-ta." She strode up the stairs, ignoring calls from Jaina to send them back before anything bad could happen.

* * *

Thrall watched the eccentric woman leave with crossed arms. She must have been one of those Terrans, like Raynor. Very well, there existed worse peoples. At least, they weren't so fond of slavery and _meaningless_ brutality.

Well, now to just deal with being stuck in the same room as the leader of the enemy forces and his top officers, a lich, Ragnaros (on legs), damnable Arthas Menethil, and Gul'dan himself. His only back-up? Rehgar and Gazlowe. Rehgar was a true gladiator through and through, but he couldn't beat this many foes at once. Gazlowe needed time to set up an advantageous situation, which would not be a luxury they were afforded if a fight broke out.

"Friends. Avoid a fight unless there's no choice. We can't afford to die here." He said quietly, staring down the rest of the room as people started to size up age-old enemies, weighing up their chances of being able to be free of hated foes for a few months. He locked eyes with Varian, who was no doubt going through the same chain of thoughts, and there was a split second of understanding between them.

 _Don't start and we won't._

His attention was then captured by the nephalem spreading out, advancing on Azmodan. The general of hell was apparently larger in his homeworld, like Ragnaros or Abathur, but now he was just a solid eight foot tall, and not quite managing to appear as confident as he wished.

"A-arrogant nephalem, you truly think that-"

Valla pointed her crossbow at his head. "Give me a reason why we shouldn't."

Jaina ran forwards. "Please, wait!"

Valla looked to the side with the single most deadpan glare any hero was capable of.

"We can't afford to start a fight here. There will be time later, I'm sure of it." Jaina pleaded. "If things start, then it's quite possible the ship will be destroyed and none of us will survive. Outer space is comparable to a failed portal spell, I believe. We would be"

Valla frowned. "...Fellow nephalem, what are your thoughts?"

"Crush him." Said Sonya flatly.

"...I fear Jaina is correct." Said Li-ming.

"Alas, she is." Confirmed Tyreal. "If we start to fight here, then there will be no survivors."

There was an uneasy air for several seconds.

Johanna looked at Azmodan. "I will be watching you. If you try anything funny, then we'll not grant mercy."

There was dead silence for a while, as everyone was afraid to so much as speak. When your life depended on not starting a fight, you didn't want to be locked in a room with some of the worst mass murderers in your world, that you had personal grudges against.

Unless, of course, there were no villains from your world. Thrall watched as that one human from earth just stepped inbetween an incredibly powerful demon and half a dozen powerful warriors, reaching for some kind of device. Not magic, but more advanced than the goblin or gnomish contraptions. Was it a weapon of some kind? Perhaps it could generate lightning?

Instead, some background music started playing that was... mostly generic, but very slightly upbeat. Lúcio just looked at the two sides. "C'mon guys, it's not so bad. You'll be here for a few hours, tops. And nobody can really kill each other, so don't be too worried. There are plenty of people you can talk to here! I think it's a good chance to get to know some people from other worlds."

Li-ming pursed her lips. "You do know what the demon next to you has done, right?"

"Nope. Mainly because all us people from other worlds never really got to properly chat while we were here. Always 'battle this', or 'fight that'. Come on, there's time for some chatter. Why don't you tell me what he did?"

Thrall could suspect the real intent- they were all in a room full of potential enemies or allies. Best not to end up without any friends if a fight broke out. "It's a good idea." He said, voice carrying through the room. "I don't know about the rest of you, but our... host... didn't seem the most reliable of humans."

He started to look over the room, for anyone to talk to, as some of them were moved a little by his words, shifting a bit. Varian and he were on opposite sides, and almost always had conflicts of interest on top of a strained relationship on the best of days... and acts of war on bad ones. Jaina he couldn't face yet. Not until he was ready to tell her what Garrosh boasted of so often. Really, the Alliance as a whole wouldn't take kindly to the Horde warchief.

So what about the warriors of other worlds? ...That one in the mask held a severed troll head. Thrall made a note to find out exactly why, and to crush him if he didn't like the answer. But his companions didn't seem that bad. That one, with the orange hair had armour that could have passed for horde if it were a bit thicker. It seemed like a good place to start, as the rest of the room started uneasy conversation.

"Warrior from another world. I am Thrall, warchief of the Horde. Who are you?"

The barbarian put a pair of gigantic swords into holsters on her back. "My name is Sonya. I am a nephalem. Actions speak louder than words."

"Agreed. Unfortunately." Thrall placed the Doomhammer in front of himself, handle up. "Strength and honour. Both are rooted in battle."

"I have much of both. But I have no time for demons." She said.

"It is the curse of all my people. One we have thrown off, even if traces linger."

Sonya had no intent to mess around with formalities. "My people were slaughtered by demons. You had better be truthful."

"We have much in common. I lost many brothers to the corruption." Thrall glanced to one side. The one responsible for that corruption and the endless tragedies surrounding it was _right there._ It would be so easy to just take his hammer and smack the warlock's head clean off his shoulders, but... he couldn't. Damn this situation.

* * *

Ten squats.

Ten push-ups.

Ten sit-ups.

Ten lunges.

Repeat.

Zarya had no time for idle chatter. She needed to stay trained, and return to base ASAP. She was the main defender of Katya's workplace, and given time, Katya should be able to call her back. Until then, she could make use of the time by keeping herself in top form- as a good soldier should.

She dropped down to do her next batch of push-ups, and there was the sound of something ladning next to her.

"Friend see something?" Said Brightwing. "Mouse? Spider?" She made a slurping noise at her mention of the spider.

Zarya was unpeturbed. "No. I'm just excercising. Strange thing."

"Do you wanna be friends?"

"Not interested. We don't allow animals on-site at Volskaya." Zarya was getting increasingly fed-up at the conversation, switching to sit-ups again.

"Then... um... this is not Voh- Volsh-" She spluttered, not quite able to pronounce the word. "Valskya. I want to talk, friend!"

"Then talk to someone else."

* * *

Xul walked over to Arthas with complete calmness. "I advise you do not attempt to disturb the balance here. There would be dire consequences, even for one such as yourself."

Arthas was unreadable behind the helm of domination. Even in the nexus, with his powers bound and restrained by forces unknowable, he was among the most dangerous fighters. His abilities to chill and freeze all around him until it stopped dead, combined with a mastery of death magic alone would have allowed him to better many fighters. Once you factored in his cunning and experience, there were few enemies worse. He stood silent. "Consequences in the form of opposition are meaningless. I would hope you are not so foolhardy as to believe you can coerce me."

"I would stand in your way for your own sake. Beyond me lies the delicate balance of life. Tip the scale too far either way, and both life and death will cease to be." Explained Xul. "A corpse lasts not forever."

"Yet in the nexus, that may not hold true." Countered Arthas. "But it matters not. I do not intend to stay. I have my own matters to attend to."

Xul sighed. "I feared as much. There is great power in maintaining the balance. I hope that even one such as yourself might understand it in time."

Kel'thuzad floated forwards. "You've wasted enough time here. Begone to somewhere your words carry weight."

* * *

Mira came onto the control deck of her ship just in time to see the pilot's trousers change to a darker shade. "Ugh, am I the only one around here who can handle a small surprise?!" She marched up to the main control system and pushed the petrified pilot out of the way, before methodically slotting a few levers into new positions, grabbing a joystick and yanking it back, and then hitting a button to fire a missile salvo. "Go change your trousers. You stink." She pushed the gibbering man away with her foot, and grabbed the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I'm just going to set off a few explosions in front of the ship so we don't turn into a pancake on impact. Brace for a... _slightly_ bumpy landing."

The salvo pulled ahead of her ship, as some technically illegal systems told the smart bombs to all detonate at the same time. It was a dangerous move that would blow the front clean off her ship if it went wrong, but what was life without a little danger?

The deceleration was instantaneous. Mira put a foot on her console and leaned forwards quite a bit, as the g-force bent the console down a little, and no doubt everyone in the hangar was thrown at a wall.

She eyed her speedometer. Two thousand kilometres per hour, and ticking down. Okay, that was pretty low. Maybe the ship would still be salvageable.

She hit the atmosphere of Braxis, and immediately she saw the air catching fire at the sheer speed of her ship. The velocity was still falling, and she was still firing the reverse thrusters.

"Hey Sammy, how far behind are the zerg?" Said Mira offhandedly. "And what are they flying?"

"It's two leviathans, about two minutes out ma'am." Responded someone who was clutching a radar.

"Oh! Looks like today will be an easy day then. Go get everyone suited up." Mira looked at the rapidly approaching ground of Braxis.

Now, where to crash?

* * *

When Mira Han warned everyone of a bumpy landing, there was a spectrum of reactions. Some people had a decent idea of what it would be like to be inside a ship that was smashed into a planet at high speed thanks to previous life experiences. Some did not.

Falstad was the only one who really appreciated exactly what would happen when he imagined some of his own days flying. "So. When this thing hits the floor, it might roll over, so keep yer hands around yer head." He started. "I dunno how hard it'll hit, so keep yer legs bent to absorb some shock. And-"

There was a sound like an intergalactic popcorn machine as the missile salvo detonated. Everyone went flying across the room, and smacked into one of the side walls before falling down into a pile.

"Oomph." Muradin pushed his way free. "Takes a little more than that to stop a dwarf. No broken bones?"

As everyone came away from the wall, Li Li dragged someone out. "I think this old guy broke a rib." She had both arms under a wheezing Greymane.

He forced himself to get up, and coughed once. "I did not."

"I heard it crack!" She protested, before going into her backpack. "Let's see... okay, tea's still fine. Here you go." She waved a hand around, conjuring a cup and throwing it up to the man. "Drink up."

Greymane looked at the drink suspiciously, and tipped it back. "Thank you." The empty cup dissolved into mist.

"Alright, so that wasn't the landing." Warned Falstad. "Trust me, we're still in flight. The real impact is probably going to knock you to the floor, so get ready..."

They got ready.

Nothing happ- CRUNCH.

It was like every individual cell in everyone's body was slapped downwards. That's a lot of slaps. Enough to send even a dwarf as stout as Muradin to the floor, which also bent upwards in one corner, and then up some more, all while the most ear-shredding noise screamed from every angle that metal was being grinded along a street.

In five seconds, it was over. The hangar lights flickered a bit, as everyone lay there stunned.

The intercom crackled, now filled with static. "Thank you for flying Mira Han airways. Get off the ship now, and stick with me or you'll be zerg food in about ten minutes."

* * *

Mira got out of her ship the fast way for a change, and kicked the now cracked window of her control room out. "Well, I'd say that was a decent landing boys. We're going to head straight for the hill over there. We can defend it until they set down Nydus Worms." She pointed to a raised plateau in the distance, a few buildings on top, and grabbed her new favourite shotgun from the side of the desk. Favourite because it was probably going to help her avoid dying.

For the most part, Braxis Holdout was just a zerg research facility with a crew of guards, soldiers and scientists. No civilians to get in anyone's way, to Mira's relief. They had the worst habit of screwing up perfectly good plans. And dying, if you cared about that.

She marched along the top of her ship for a good twenty metres, watching her men file out as quickly as possible. Her first concern was getting to somewhere that might be considered safe, at least until it got swarmed. Two leviathans could pretty much blanket this place in units, and heroes or not, overwhelming numbers were going to... well, overwhelm.

She reached the front, and jumped down. "This way!" Everyone looked over to her, unsure if they should move. "Come on! We have a minute at best before this place turns into a bloothbath!"

That got them to start moving. Malfurion looked up to the sky in concern, before looking to Tyreal. "I cannot say I approve of this... any of it."

"Perhaps." Said Tyreal. "However, there's time to discuss that later. For now we need to press on."

"You are right..."

Lucio hopped up to the front of the group. "Alright guys let's get moving!" He clicked at his sonic amplifier, and started playing his infamous crossfade. "Sonic technology online, we're rollin' out!"

Everyone began to run faster, as the shape of the first leviathan entering orbit became clearly visible. Mira cursed. "Ten seconds before the first critters hit the floor! Weapons ready!" She pumped her shotgun once, making sure it was loaded.

True to prediction, the first wave of zerglings hit the floor like raindrops, approaching from every angle. Malfurion couldn't help but feel reviled at them. Yes, they were organic, but they weren't natural. He could tell they were somehow... pieced together, an amalgamation of species that should never have come to be. And so he absolutely no regrets blasting the one that jumped for him into purple putty with moonfire.

All around him, he could see his fellows and Mira's troops fall into a panic as they had to defend themselves against the omnidirectional assault. Most were returning fire, some went down. The heroes were another story. All of them were hardened to battle. Experienced in the art of dying, and avoiding dying. There was barely a scratch between them.

He waved his staff, calling on nature to regenerate the wounds of the less determined soldiers, and started to run to keep pace. The assault was getting worse. If the initial wave had been like the start of rain, then it was swiftly transitioning into a downpour.

"Away with you!" He channeled magic into the ground, and roots burst upwards for a few longs seconds, snagging any hostile force that moved over them.

And then the assault suddenly intensified, and hydralisks and roaches and banelings joined in. Malfurion watched as heroes were forced to use ultimate abilities to keep the enemy away, and some had to block or deflect bone spines that were tearing through the weaker mercenaries like paper. Blood splattered across the floor when they fell, but the ones drenched in acid were the truly unlucky.

Ten seconds later, and the zerg were threatening to encircle them completely, and simply crush them in a vice of black and purple.

"We're surrounded, brother." Illidan landed next to Malfurion, out of a backflip. "If you don't have a better idea, then I'm going to Hunt their flagship and see if I can kill the leader."

"I'm unsure that is within even your power." Malfurion used moonfire again and again and again.

There was a sudden crackle, and then a thunderclap and a brilliant, blinding light. Malfurion's vision was left sparkling for a second, but the zerg surrounding them were clearly completely blinded, many crashing into each other and the hydralisk accuracy dropping to zero.

"Push forward everyone, quickly!" Yelled Mira. "I see a defensive wall setting up!" She let loose a few shotgun rounds, and ran up the hill.

Malfurion despised the thought of having to resort to all this technology to stay alive, but it was a necessary evil and one that was driven out of his mind very quickly as he had to sprint and try not to be overwhelmed.

* * *

They made it past an automated wall with a few zerglings still harrying them, before they wre mopped up by spells. The supply depot rose, and Johanna put her shield down for a moment, recuperating in the cover. "Is everyone still with us? These things are no demons, but they fight like them."

She looked for the other nephalem. Valla was hastily mending her armour, the metal was thin so that she could move fast but that meant it needed constant repair and wasn't that protective. Nazeebo conjured a jar of spiders and lazily tossed them over the wall. Li-ming was waiting impatiently for her mana to return, nursing a set of scratches on her side. Cassia had taken one of the splashes of acid, but Kharazim had healed her flesh and restored her armour. Xul was staring intently at the enemy, as slight hints of magic coiled around him. Sonya pulled a spine out of her arm like it were nothing, and the amount of blood that followed it was barely more than a drip.

The blasting of an artillery cannon sounded in the back, and there were explosions on the other side of the defensive wall. Johanna knew instantly that a good chunk of enemy forces were gone, much to her relief. Maybe they could hold out here long enough to at least learn what was going on.

Ah, somebody was approaching. From this world, for sure. And with a force of his own soldiers.

"Mira?"

"James! How is Matthew?" Said Mira warmly.

"...You've got some serious explaining to do."


	3. Chapter 3: Tension

Mira looked around awkwardly, then chuckled. "You know how it can be, James. Zerg come calling, so you call on everything you've got."

Raynor raised an eyebrow. "And you just... happened to have all these heroes on your ship?" He shrugged. "Well, I guess I've got bigger problems than you lot right now. You're clearly not infested. Fall back to the bar, Hammer is setting up the transport."

"You heard the man!" Called out Mira.

"But you're explaining properly once we make it to the facility!" Yelled Raynor, as he started gunning down some of the falling zerg.

The retreat was another messy three minutes, but they finally got to the bar. The zerg were rapidly encroaching on the position, but it was a brief reprieve in a day of madness.

They got inside and slammed the door, and for a few moments there was little but steady breathing and murmurs of people trying to find their allies.

Ragnaros was the main light source of the room. The floor glowed with heat at his presence, and the mighty Sulfuras thrummed with power in his hand. But that was nothing compared to the absolute, pure fury he felt at this insult.

Insects. Damned. INSECTS! Of all things a firelord would run from, insects should never, ever, EVER have been in the remotest consideration for the title! He would see them burn before he returned back to his abode, and that was a certainty. But now was too soon... He knew the value of patience well. If he had to bide his time before the insects would burn or before the mortals around him burned, so it would be.

His attention was drawn by Raynor, who had finished recieving some kind of call.

"Okay folks, listen up!" He shouted. The bar quieted down. "We've got a transport, we can get you off the planet. You better appreciate it, so listen to what I've got to say.

"The zerg have launched some kind of shock attack on the whole planet. Artanis is holding orbital superiority on half of the planet, but it WON'T last because he only has his ship and Kerrigan has four. The Hyperion can take us all into orbit, but it can only come down safely at the holdout. It's three days to Braxis Holdout, and twelve hours to an area where is isn't going to be raining zerg shortly. Get and follow me, and pray to whatever gods you have that I can talk some sense into Kerrigan before she overwhelms Artanis."

With that quick talk, he opened a door on the side of the room and marched out, rifle in hand. Everyone hurried to follow him.

After a scramble down the corridor, they entered the garage, with one tank waiting and a couple of troop carriers. Hammer flipped the lid of the tank up and leaned over. "Picked up some strays, Ray?"

"Pretty much. Get Morales and her medivac down here, I'll drive." Called Raynor. "Everyone, get into the car. Anyone starts a fight and I'll boot them off."

Morales hurriedly opened a communications channel to Raynor as people started to get into the ship. "ETA ten seconds. Scouting shows that we're in a code-22."

Raynor frowned. "...What was code 22 again?" He hopped into the front of the transport, and slammed the door. "Everyone in? I don't care if you're sitting on top of each other!"

"We named it after catch-22, remember? No good answer is available to the problem." Said Morales.

"Ah, code 'we're screwed'. Got it. You just fly overhead, don't die, and if anything goes wrong then can ya try and save a couple of people?"

"Yes sir."

Raynor checked the side mirror once and saw nobody in the garage. "Alright, let's roll!" His foot slammed the gas pedal, and the heavy transport started moving.

The second they exited, the zerg attacked. From every angle. Every place the eye could see and many it couldn't, because of zerg in the way.

Acid splashed against parts of the convoy. The smell of dissolving metal filtered through the crowded back of the transport.

Many claws and fangs scratched the sides and front, but the square-cubed law came to the rescue and anything that would have been heavy enough to halt the truck would have been too heavy to drop from orbit in one piece. Gunk splattered over the windshield from a few that were turned into roadkill.

And Hammer rolled along beside them, keeping pace and occasionally blasting a wave of chargind zerg away. Her tank was slowly but surely being eaten even as they moved, but they were getting closer and closer to escape.

It was like the world's most terrifying, aggressive rainstorm. Raynor gunned the engine as fast and hard as he could for a terrifying five minutes. Until finally, the intensity of the attack faded, leaving only a few pursuing zerglings that couldn't quite rip off the armoured tires.

Raynor took a deep breath, and then another two for good measure. "Okay! We're ahead of the wave. We should be able to make it to the safe side of the planet before we're out of gas." He kept his foot solidly down, the convoy doing a nice 110, while Hammer turned on some boosters to keep up. "So Mira. Get up here and explain."

"I'm quite comfortable where I am, darling." Mira said, squashed between Thrall's shoulderpad and Cassia's entire rack of spare spears.

"Ok. Sit there and explain." Said Raynor.

Mira shifted uncomfortably. "Alright, alright. I don't really care for long explanations, but I found a shiny rock that gave me superpowers, and now Kerrigan wants it. In the normal Kerrigan way. Cappiche?"

"...Someone check if she's a realm lord. I gotta focus on the road." Raynor changed lane casually, avoiding a pothole the size of a bad day.

There was a slight shuffling as people tried to get a look at Mira, while trying to stay as far away from Ragnaros in the back of the truck as possible. If anyone had missed the blue gem set into her suit before, they didn't this time.

"It seems you are of a higher reality now. I advise you use the power wisely." Said Malfurion.

"Higher reality? Last I checked, I still get injured like always. And I don't see any miraculous button I can press to destroy the zerg." Mira snarked.

* * *

Kerrigan stood in the main chamber of her leviathan, watching as endless clouds of mutalisks picked at Artanis' orbital defences. Too strong for her, at the moment. The Spear of Adun was alone, but it was enough to match everything she had.

For a short while.

She sent out a telepathic signal. 'Izsha, how is Stukov's mission progressing?'

'Within expectations. He has not failed in any key objectives, and is available for contact.' Responded the voice of Izsha, the creature responsible for overseeing the details of Kerrigan's grand designs- keeping her leviathans safe, making sure the broods she wasn't surrently commanding didn't waste time or energy, and gathering and processing tactical information.

In short, her secretary.

'Location of Mira Han.'

'Mira Han is currently travelling towards Braxis Holdout with a number of heroes, estimated 30. It is likely they would repel an attack by our current ground forces.'

'Don't bother sending anything significant, but have a few zerglings harass them. The Spear of Adun will vaporise anything it can, so get nydus worms down in a safe spot and start encircling the holdout. They can't glass somewhere their allies are.'

'Understood. My queen, Zagara is having some difficulty against the protoss forces. Her leviathan has sustained plasma damage and has expended around 70% of available regenerative resources.'

'Order her to pull back. I'll take command of that fight personally. You send her to the surface, and have her set up the assault of the holdout.'

'Understood.'

Kerrigan walked up to the front of her leviathan's nerve centre, looking out into space to see Zagara's leviathan crawling away from Artanis' offensive. Easily reparable, but it would need resources. Izsha could handle the logistics. She held out a hand, and started to focus her mental energy onto the ship itself.

'MOVE.'

It was already doing its best, but when Kerrigan wanted something, she got it and she got it fast. Psionic power grasped the leviathan in full and propelled it alarmingly fast, barrelling to the front of the fight with units deploying en masse. Several protoss fighters were actually slammed by the incredible bulk, ships breaking apart.

Kerrigan began to micromanage her units, quickly realising just how stern a resistance an Arkship could put up.

'My queen, if you so desire I can recall Stukov, Abathur or Dehaka from their respective missions to take command of their leviathans.' Izsha offered.

Concentration diverted to the fight, Kerrigan finally spoke out loud. "No. Too important to our success. I'll crush all these bastards. At least until I need to get Raynor to hesitate."

* * *

As the truck continued to ramble along, there was one problem (made up of lots of smaller problems). There was nowhere near enough room to hold thirty people in the truck, and a lot of the people were either wearing sharp objects or otherwise capable of hurting people when they touched them. Even the equipment racks were fully seated, and Illidan had latched onto the roof itself, making him the only person who wasn't squashed.

It didn't take particularly long for several patiences to wear thin.

"The moment I can move, I am going to get out and walk to the damn base myself." Varian said. "I mean it! This is worse than a slave-ship!"

"Have you ever _been_ on a slave-ship? Even I wouldn't use one, it'd mess up your cargo too much!" Retorted Gazlowe.

"Don't presume to speak down to me. I know exactly what it's like." Varian spat.

"Eh, your gold comes from your family and your abilities from a sword you found. Dumbass, you couldn't sell ice in a desert!"

"The moment we're out, I'll show you exactly why you don't speak to me that way." Varian's voice was incredibly calculated. For such an open angering, he still seemed in control of the situation.

"Friends, no." Brightwing looked over from the end of the equipment rack. "No no no. No fighting. Save the kill-mood for the nasties. Nasties... nasties... Oh! Enemies!" She laughed. "English getting better! Make _them_ all bloody and crunched, not each other!"

"Eh, bug off." Said Gazlowe.

* * *

In the front, Raynor fiddled with his radio, before eventually looking to Uther in the shotgun seat.

"Hey, you know how to use a radio?" Raynor asked, swerving to take a corner.

Uther looked at the device blankly. "I don't even know what that's made of, boy."

"Alright, just move that slider there until you hear something. Maybe we can pick up a message." Raynor reached over and poked a frequency slider, before blasting past a sign for a speed limit at nearly triple the number written.

Uther carefully reached over and slowly moved the slider. It felt eldritch in his hands, but he'd seen enough otherworldly technology to recognise that this wasn't demonic... just alien to him. There was a slight crackle. "Ah. Is this some kind of code?"

"Nah, just static. Keep going." Raynor casually offroaded for a few seconds, forgetting that this truck had a wider turning circle than his Vulture.

Uther kept moving it. "So is this what you do, back in your world? Help save people from those things?"

"Pretty much. But on a bigger scale normally. And normally they're a bit happier about it." Raynor looked back to see Falstad try to slap Muradin, and promptly get thrown at Cassia, who pulled out a spear and started to invoke a lightning spell. "NOT IN THE CAR, THANKS!"

Cassia hesitated and looked over, as did Muradin. Falstad's gryphon picked him up and scrambled over to the corner, as Kael'thas halfheartedly fainted.

"Most of us here have grudges. If it weren't for your wishes, I'd see Arthas left to those beasts." Uther grumbled, and kept moving the slider.

"Raynor, I've recieved a message from Artanis."

Raynor brightened up. "Rosa! What's the situation?"

Morales didn't share the optimism entirely. "Pretty bad. We'll be fine. We've got about a day before Artanis needs to pull away, assuming he doesn't manage to force the zerg away. The real risk is the ground units catching us."

"Okay, not a problem. We'll be at the Hyperion first."

"About that. Doctor Cook sent out a distress call. Would you mind making a detour to pick him and his scientists up? We can still make it pretty handily."

"Oh yeah, Cook... Isn't he a lord? Can he help?"

"Not with his planet like this."

"Alright. We'll need to drop off all these heroes before I do that. Then we can assemble a squad and pick him up."

"Roger." The radio went silent.

Raynor smiled. "Well, looks like we've got a goal. Now then..." He reached over and hit play on the CD part of the radio. A song started to play.

'Country roads, take me home...'

"What is this? Something youths listen to instead of attending their duties?" Said Uther.

Raynor couldn't help but chuckle. "You might be the first person in history to accuse country music of that."

* * *

It took five full hours to reach the port. The medivac touched down next to the convoy, and Raynor brung the truck to a stop, as the needle hovered dangerously close to 'E'. "Okay. Everyone out!"

The doors on the back were nearly thrown across the street, and everyone raced to get out of the cramped vehicle, having dealt with stiff legs and stuffy, stinking air for far longer than they wanted to.

As they fanned out into the usual social groups, Raynor looked around. The starport was just as he remembered it, with missile turrets built into the perimeter wall and a full security outfit patrolling. Inside here, they were relatively safe.

"Okay folks, I need to mount another rescue mission to a facility an hour away from here. Anyone that wants to volunteer, then stick here. Anyone that doesn't, then go organise staying on the Hyperion before I get back." Called Raynor.

Most of the heroes murmured amongst themselves. A few made a beeline for the starport's main building, Mira included. Raynor made a note to keep an eye on her.

Raynor saw someone coming, and steeled himself. They were an ally beyond doubt, but they were sacrificing more than he dared question as they walked. "Don't rush yourselves. Meet me here in half an hour if you're coming." He called, before focusing on Artanis.

"Friend Raynor, we're holding our position. For the moment, Kerrigan cannot break through." Said Artanis.

"Great. I'll get us out of here as soon as Cook's safe. I don't want his power falling into Sarah's hands. You know how she can be." Raynor said confidently.

Artanis was troubled. "It's a brash move, even by her standards. If we mounted a counteroffensive then we'd be able to decimate her armies here with significantly less threat to our forces."

"True, but I'd like to beleive I didn't want to marry someone that short sighted. Chances are she has a few more cards to play, so let's not get cocky. If you could, then try and find out what she's got hidden."

Artanis nodded. "Very well. We'll bide our time a little longer, and strike once Kerrigan shows a weakness."

"I'll give it my all, Artanis. No sacrifice will be in vain. Not if I can help it." Raynor locked eyes with the Hierarch.

"Then I shall receive word from you soon. En taro Adun."

"En taro Adun."

With that short farewell, Artanis's armour glowed for a few seconds before a long-range warp was initiated, and the protoss was carried away by his technology.

Raynor was left with a mission to plan.

* * *

"We will help." Said Valla. "All of us nephalem are used to these situations."

"With superiority such as ours on your side, you won't need to do more than show us where the problem is." Added Li-ming.

Raynor smiled. "Sounds good, guys and gals. I've got another three medivac dropships ready to move out, so no more of the truck." But he let the smile drop into something a bit sterner. "But for god's sake, be careful. The zerg will be out for blood like you won't believe."

"I think we can believe it. We fight _demons_ most of the time." Li-ming said, brushing off the warning.

Raynor nodded. "We'll leave in five minutes. Hopefully this'll just be a quick in-and-out."

Another few people came walking over. Jaina, Uther and Varian.

Varian was at the front, sword in hand. "Greymane will help manage the defences here. And we will stand with you- I won't let innocent people be left to die. For the time being, I'll defer to you. But I want to know what kind of tactics we should be using against this enemy."

"Glad to have you folks. I'll give you a rundown on fighting the zerg while we travel, but the most important thing is to stay near each other."

"Understood. Will you be waiting for more allies? I believe you can succeed with these numbers, and time is in short supply." Varian asked.

"...You're right. Let's get going!"

* * *

Lucio watched the medivac lift off. "So. Zarya, any plans? Not necessarily for the weekend, maybe for the giant alien invasion too."

"Your humor is useless." Said Zarya dryly. "Just follow basic training, and identify potential cover and vantage points, and try to mitigate the damage you sustain. We have a good number of seasoned fighters, but few know how to fight as a unit with each other, so I wouldn't be optimistic."

"Zarya, buddy. Optimism is pretty important when we're in this situation. But hey, I know you. SO I've got your back and I'll keep everyone healed. Cool?"

"...Cool." Zarya said. She hefted her particle cannon up, and gave the core a spin. "Expect some losses if we don't get out soon."

"Yeah, I know. But don't count these guys out, okay?"

"I will not. You should go and try to stop any infighting. We won't survive if that happens." Zarya said matter-of-factly.

"Can do!" Lucio turned and skated, looking around for any potential fights about to break out. Arthas and Kel'Thuzad were keeping to themselves, Azmodan was slacking off in a corner, and Ragnaros was switching from his legged form into the normal flaming twister he was. Lucio had a feeling that if not for the immediate threat of retaliation, he probably would have burned everyone in the truck alive. Gul'dan was nowhere to be seen, for better or worse. Still, Lucio wanted to check on everyone.

Maybe he was inside the building?

Lucio wandered up, and stepped inside to find Mira Han's entire security force, and Mira herself hunched over something. "Oh, hey there."

Mira turned quickly. "Oh, hello there! Don't mind me, just... ah... what can I do for you?"

Lucio raised an eyebrow. If that wasn't blatantly suspicious, what was? Still, he had bigger priorities. "Just wondering if there's any way I can help out. We could get attacked out here."

"Oh, heroes can always be a help. From the mighty to the measly, I welcome them all!" Mira spread her arms. "But for you at least, then could you maybe... hmm. Just try not to let my men die. After all, they're not as expendable as you."

"Whoo, harsh." Lucio crossed his arms. "You speak to everyone that way?"

"Lying about importance only ends in tears. Still, I don't get why we don't take the Hyperion and leave here, and just bring the medivacs into orbit. We could just leave this place!"

"...Yeah, yeah. Look, let's just work together for a bit. Try and straighten this all out a little and come back." Lucio made to leave, but some words jumped out of him unbidden.

"I won't even tell the others you were trying to summon a portal for yourself."

 **Author's notes: Lucio, he's a bro~**

 **Anyway, hopefully this being mostly filler/set-up wasn't a colossal disappointment. I'll get the plot moving a bit in the next chapter.**

 **Reviewer answers!**

 **Venom rules all: Perhaps there is a lot to draw on, but the game itself has a crippling lack of lore and even in-game interaction that makes it very hard to write anything for without sending people OoC. You can see the same problem in Overwatch, where the lore pacing is so glacial (and therefore difficult to get invested in) that most writers don't try to make anything more than a one-shot.**


	4. Chapter 4: Hold

The medivacs could travel hundreds of miles per hour while in orbit. They were capable of even more once in space, but trying to accelerate too much inside an atmosphere would have consequences.

Varian, despite not recognising the technology, was a model soldier. He checked all the straps on his armour, then proceeded to take his sword and cycle through all three configurations, checking it still worked. Even if it had never worn worse than a few scratches after killing things that really should have broken it. "We're heading into a battle, alliance warriors. Treat it no less seriously than you would the Burning Legion."

"The man knows what he's talking about." Said Raynor. "Get ready for a rough time."

Everyone halfheartedly checked gear that they knew was fine. Varian leaned in. "I want that tactical knowledge now. What do I need to prepare for?"

Raynor nodded. "Okay, there's about a dozen different types of Zerg. The small ones are zerglings, they move fast and they hit hard, but that's about it. If it looks like a green ball, that's a baneling and you need to stay back because it will explode into acid..."

As Raynor gave a detailed description that everyone reading already knows, the six nephalem settled on changing tactics a little.

"We're going against the relative unknown." Said Johanna. "Obviously we're not going to back down, but caution would serve us well."

Li-Ming tossed her orb a few times in her hand, bored. "Really? I was going to suggest I serve as a meat shield while we push ahead as fast as possible."

"If you want to. But no backing out." Said Sonya simply. Li-ming broke into a slight sweat before an amused smile spread over Sonya's face. "I jest."

"Anyway." Continued Johanna. "Remember to keep sight of our other allies, and Valla... don't lose control."

"I would never."

Johanna hesitated for just a second before reaching out a hand and patting Valla's large shoulderplate. "I'm sure you wouldn't, friend. Now, I'm just suggesting that if we're going to move at a slightly slower pace, Kharazim should use his mana technique."

Kharazim nodded. "Agreed, worry not. But it may benefit you all to set yourselves up for some self-healing, as I can become outpaced if all of you are damaged."

* * *

Lucio hopped around, shifting his weight from side to side. The fact that he'd seen Mira Han actively trying to abandon them didn't inspire confidence. He wasn't going to share it, morale was a little shaky as it was. But now he had to look out for her trying to do that again, on top of the zerg. Bad vibes.

Part of him wanted to confide in someone, to make it easier for him to keep the secret. But there were far too many prying eyes and ears here...

For a minute, he was at a loss for what to do until he decided to simply put the decision to the back of his mind until everyone was off the planet. There were better things he could do in the present, like breaking up the fight that was about to erupt.

Azmodan had wasted precisely no time at all in summoning a demonic guard to the gates of the starport- that, Lucio had no problem with. They weren't hurting anyone. The problem was that Azmodan had then moved onto the security guards, and had started to cast some kind of demonic corruption onto the nearest one until Thrall had marched up, hammer in hand.

The warchief pointed the Doomhammer at the demon. "Complete that spell and I'll crush you faster than lightning can strike. It goes against my better judgement to even allow you to have come with us to here, demon."

Azmodan dropped the guard, and slowly turned to look at Thrall, gaze filled with contempt. "Arrogant puppet. You would claim to know better than me? I know that these weak bags of flesh will fail under so much as a mortal wound. Our enemy has no shortage of warriors."

"I will NOT see another race subjected to the horrors of demons."

"Then why don't you strike me down?" Azmodan said smugly. "You know... you _know_ that I speak the truth."

Thrall didn't hesitate to draw back his hammer, and proceeded to start to charge a lightning spell when Lucio intervened. "Woah there. Woah. Don't fight each other right now, the enemy is going to be here real soon. Just save it. Uh, Azmo, you just hold off on the corruption spells. Summon some more demons or something."

Thrall glared. "You should not waste trust on a demon."

"Hey, we've gotta give him a little, or we're all dead. How about I just keep an eye on the guy, while you make sure you know where to find the other healers?" Lucio offered.

"...You will regret saving him." Thrall warily turned and walked off.

* * *

Morales brought the Medivac into a circle around the facility. "It looks pretty bad down there." She sucked air between her teeth. "Raynor, I'm going to put this in your words- it looks like someone really kicked the hornet's nest."

Raynor walked up to the window and gave a low whistle. "Well, ain't that a lot of critters. Where are we dropping, Rosa?"

"...Tough to say. I don't know if it's possible to even try and assault this position, there's no space on the ground." Morales started to loop around again, and then a warning alarm on her dashboard started to blare. "Mutalisks at seven o' clock! Everyone, buckle up for evasive manouvres!"

She instantly yanked the controls for her ship to the left, sending it into an aileron roll towards the ground, and then pulling up just a metre from the floor.

Jaina had put her seatbelt on at first, and had fixed Uther's for him. Varian grabbed a handrail with one hand and didn't budge. In the accompanying ship, the Nephalem were tossed like a salad. Most were agile enough to avoid any sort of real damage, Sonya quite handily used an equipment rack to cushion herself, and Nazeebo just sat there, apparently exempt from the laws of physics if it was convenient.

A few shots from the Mutalisks were fired. Morales tried to veer away, but a couple of spine crawlers forced the medivac to move in a straight line. She made a split second decision, and pulled her lever back. The engines screamed abuse and started providing upwards thrust, and for a tense few seconds they only seemed to lose speed. Then like a slingshot they were launched upwards, into the air once more.

"I think that's us clear." Morales sighed. "Other medivac is looking alright too. I'll bring us down by there, but then I need to get out and fast. It's up to you to clear a way out." She went into a dive before anyone could ask questions, seizing the opportunity.

Raynor picked himself off the floor, and grabbed his gun. "Okay folks, once we hit the ground then I'll guide you through. Stay together, and get help if you're in trouble. Ready?"

"Ready." Confirmed Varian.

"Doors open! Go go go!" Shouted Morales.

Varian was first, followed by his troops. Then Raynor, and the Nephalem from the other ship. The second everybody was off, the doors slammed shut and Morales took her ships back to the skies, and the zerg were attacking before even a word could be said.

Tyreal threw his sword into the floor, and a blast of light cleared the ground for a few moments.

"Okay, move fast! Follow me!" Raynor pointed ahead, and started marching in. Everyone else had the urgency to follow.

* * *

"They're near." Announced Mira. "I really think we ought to be getting ourselves off the planet now." She recieved the remainder of a report from one of her troops, who returned to their post, gun raised.

Greymane looked around. "I've done what I can to improve the defensive formations on our wall, but against an endless onslaught, we won't last that long."

"Matt is prepping the Hyperion for takeoff, it needed to refuel. Give the man an hour, would you? He can be _dreadfully_ slow when it comes to important things like phone calls, so goodness knows how long it will take him to get that ship off the ground." Mira huffed. "When I get my hands on him, I'm going to talk his ear off! Gently."

"The zerg! ZERG!" Shouted Falstad, swooping down from his aerial vantage. "Battle stations! Hold the line until we're ready to get out of here!"

Mira raised her voice. "You heard the man! Don't let a single one get into this place!"

Things instantly grew tense, every hero falling into a quiet preparedness. There was no trace of panic or cowardice among these veterans, only the hint of fear that any sane fighter needed in order to stay alive.

For a few moments, it was quiet enough to hear the rabid screeching and squabbling approach. Gazlowe came running into view of the gate, from around the side of the wall. "Turrets ready. You want the bill now or later?"

"Put it on Matt's tab." Said Mira semi-casually, her normal cheery facade a little stern. "And prepare yourself."

The first zerg to appear in sight were the zerglings, as always. The silence was shattered into nothingness by Sgt. Hammer's cannon, a heavy shell splattering a number of them.

A mere drop in the ocean.

More flowed over the land like a lava flow, followed by a mixture of more advaced strains. While Hammer kept firing away, they charged on completely unhindered, into death without a care. They got close enough for the second line of defence to come into play, and a barrage of crude explosives were tossed into the waves by Gazlowe's turrets, easily soaked up.

It was when they got close enough for the majority of the spellcasters that the charge finally encountered real resistance. Malfurion slammed the butt of his staff into the floor, and roots erupted in a wide arc around the walls, ensaring the zerg with more force than any normal plant should have been able to, crushing the life from some and causing far more to be trampled by their brethren.

And then Kael'thas walked up. A few opportunistic spines went flying past him, and he deflected a dozen more with his magic, before fel magic surged around his hands and he threw them into the air. "Felo'melorn!"

There was an explosion in the heart of the rush, followed by a series of much more powerful explosions, and the horrendous stench of burnt zerg. Kael'thas looked at the destruction with a sense of great pride and accomplishment until the crater was swept over by dozens more zerg, and more spines wre shot at him.

"Alright lad, out of the way." Muradin shoved Kael aside, and stepped up to the gates, assisted by Zarya and Arthas himself. "Come at me, you piddly bags o' slag!"

The zerg hit like a runaway train, and the warriors hit right back. Muradin was the shield. Unbreaking, impassable. Arthas was the sword. Anything that got too close chilled to inhospitable temperatures quickly, then continued to plummet into negative numbers, when water and many other liquids froze. Even if the zerg had long since been bred to survive being frozen alive, the brittleness and slowness was a death sentence in combat. But the last piece of the sword-shield combo was decidedly the gun. Zarya was taking it upon herself to thaw out the frozen zerg. In half a second. With her plasma cannon, perpetually fully charged.

The warriors started to bend under the sustained assault, and Lucio gave his amps a blast. "Come on, don't give up!" The sonic technology started to work it's magic-not-magic, as Brightwing and Rehgar helped him keep pace with the demand for healing.

It dragged on, and on.

The cycle continued until Kael'thas was nearly blue in the face from shouting.

Until Falstad had to land his gryphon for the sake of it's fatigue.

Until Thrall dug a hand under his chestplate and threw the utterly ruined metal away- it no longer offered protection in its state.

Until Brightwing hit the floor wheezing, unable to find anything more to spit.

And until Greymane started to fear the walls would come down.

The assault petered out.

Mira looked around. The guards' guns were red hot, and the heroes were all in varying states of exhaustion and wariness.

Everyone was taken off the immense pressure, but a thought quickly found its way into everyone's head.

"That can't have been all of them." Said Kel'Thuzad. "By my estimates... barely even an eighth of what must have been dropped."

"Oh, that's... some news." Li Li said awkwardly. "I'm, uh, a bit low on tea-making power right now."

"CAST ASIDE YOUR CONCERNS. I AM READY, MORTALS." Ragnasros announced. "WE HAVE TIME YET."

* * *

"Ugh, they just keep coming!" Johanna condemned another gaggle of foes. "Well, I won't break!"

"Are we close?" Said Kharazim calmly. He shattered the bones of a target with nothing but a well-placed punch, and then kicked another like a football, somehow avoiding the teeth.

"Gettin' there! The corridors are pretty narrow in here, so things ought to lighten up a bit!" Raynor ran into an entrance, followed by the group. "Okay, get that door shut! It's reinforced as it gets!"

Tyreal reached up and actually pulled the mechanical blast door down with nothing but strength, to Raynor's amazement. Then he pressed the flat of his sword against it and whispered a blessing. "...We have but a moment to rest. Reform your formations, and clean your armour if need be. I shall stand watch, as angels do." He drifted to the front, looking out over the corridors.

The lights were not dim, or menacing. The floors were not covered in creep. At a glance, there was very little to unnerve anyone about this place. But looking closer, there were scratches on the floor like things had run over it. There was a faint smell that screamed of danger and death. There were dents on the walls.

Valla pulled her hood down. "Ugh... Foul things, but far more palatable than demons." She started to go through a set of stretches, loosening worked muscles.

Johanna reached into a small bag on her side, and took out a wooden cask full of water. "Is everyone alright? With all these Nephalem here, I dread to think how powerful the armies of hell could become."

"We would crush them regardless." Sonya said, blades stuck in the ground unceremoniously.

Cassia had a question, however. She folded a now-blunt magic spear in half, and swapped it for a sharp one from the spares on her back, before approaching Uther, who was leaning on his hammer. "Hail, Paladin."

"Well met." Responded Uther. "Are you and your allies still able to continue? Or do you want to discuss something else?"

"There are few people of our age on the battlefield." Said Cassia. "It is a harsh life, and takes a toll on the body. I want to know what kind of training you use."

"Ah. I was actually of the mind that I was getting a bit too old for this... before I found myself here. It seems The Light, or some other force wills me to continue."

"But your training? I must make ready for my return to my world, and bringing back new techniques will help us all. But also... I wish to serve the queen unto death. I refuse to let myself grow feeble, regardless of age." Explained Cassia.

Uther sighed. "Age comes for us all. Personally, my routines are only standard for the Silver Hand- Faith is the source of my abilities."

"But you will share them, yes?" Said Cassia impatiently. "A great many lives could be saved if I could make even the slightest improvement to Amazon techniques."

"...Very well. When we have some time later." Said Uther.

Varian fixed his buckler back onto his arm, and took a deep breath. "We've rested more than long enough. Every second here puts whoever it is we're rescuing in more danger."

Raynor finished reloading. "The man's right. The zerg aren't just going to wait arond for us to recover. All good?"

There was a round of yeses.

"Then let's get going, quick."

* * *

"Another wave." Said the guard. "Three minutes out."

Mira nodded. "Alright, Rag, I sure hope you have a good plan to impress us insects down here! I'm looking for total zerg annihilation, at least on par with the lovely Matt Horner and his fleet."

"THOSE WHO WISH TO BURN, STAND IN FRONT OF THE GATES." Ragnaros announced, clenching the legendary hammer, Sulfuron. The floor around him bubbled and blistered as always, but now the aura of molten power had spread to a wide area, easily as wide as the gates.

Mira was very curious as to exactly what was going on, but her best guess involved fire and fury. A man... er, elemental lord of culture when it came to treating your enemies.

Everyone else knew exactly what was coming and hurriedly got over to one side.

"Stick it to 'em!" Yelled Muradin. "Give 'em the Blackrock special!"

"DIE INSECTS!"

Ragnaros slammed Sulfuron into the ground, and the hard-baked dirt burst. Molten lava gushed out with the force of a pressure washer, thousands upon thousands of litres of liquid stone and metal rushing at the waves of enemies in a controlled river. It stayed straight until hitting the gates, and then spread out in a wide pulse of magmatic destruction, sweeping the area clean.

It was over in mere seconds. The zerg wave was obliterated. Mira's face felt a little bit burnt from her proximity to the gargantuan attack, and she'd thought she was standing back.

Polite applause seemed appropriate.

* * *

"I think this is the place." Said Raynor, coming to a stop. He looked up, seeing a light flickering. "Yeah. Just as he told me."

The corridor was totally empty, and normal. The group had encountered and slain many pockets of Zerg, but none had been too much of a challenge, even to those not familiar. Raynor was just thankful for the elite nature of his companions.

"There doesn't seem to be anything here." Said Varian, in the vanguard position. He kept his shield up regardless of the situation, wary of an ambush. "Is this a rendevous point?"

"No. Cover me for a moment." Raynor turned to the wall, and started fiddling with one of the panels. It popped off, revealing a computer terminal.

The nephalem and Varian's vanguard firmly blockaded the two ways of the corridor, listening intently. The occasional screech could be heard, and they were never quite sure of the distance, always holding themselves at the ready.

Raynor shoved the terminal back into the wall, and the panel came back up. There was a whirring, and the floor panel underneath the group suddenly hissed with compressed gas, and started to glow faintly.

'Warp initialised.'

"Hang on to your lunch!"

The world was flipped upside-down, then inside-out, and then pinged back to normal. The party stumbled, and then snapped back into defensive stances.

They found themselves inside a large chamber, with much cleaner walls and a higher ceiling than the stuffy corridors.

"A portal?" Asked Jaina. "...No, I sense no magic."

"You're close enough." Said Raynor. "This is the real Braxis Holdout." He strode up to a door, and knocked a few times. "Open up, we're here!"

The door retracted into the walls, and Jaina caught sight of the area that she never knew existed.

A gigantic room was before her. Steel grate floors stretched out as far and wide as Stormwind castle's courtyard, if not further. And all manner of scientific machinery was positioned around the room- some were short grey machines that looked like nothing more than metal boxes at first glance, others were hulking beasts that reached the apex of the room and possibly further. There were pallets upon pallets filled with supplies that had cryptic names, mixed with things that she recognised from Azeroth and her time here.

To her concern, one wall had a gallery of large, reinforced glass tanks. The green fluid within seemed suspicious at best, especially when coupled with the gigantic neosteel exoskeletons that were on display above each tank.

"Ah. So this must be where the Zerg that are on the battlefield are created..." She mused, as everyone else was absorbed by the visuals.

A man in a white coat stepped into view. Instantly, everyone pointed weapons at him aside from Raynor, who motioned to lower them. "Cook."

As he got closer, everyone could make out the details on him. A lab coat, stained but washed. Greying hair, thin on top. An electronic clipboard. A blue tie. And at the knot of the tie, a gemstone. Deep blue, caged in gold. "Doctor Cook. Thank god you're here."

"Who?" Said Sonya.

* * *

Kerrigan pulled her leviathan back from the Spear of Adun, surveying the fight. Her forces were starting to become depleted, but the Protoss arkship was also far worse for wear. Neither side had unlimited troops. Neither was in a position to blast the other to dust with a beam of energy. The fight came down to attrition. Careful expenditure of underlings to try and drain enemy resources.

Kerrigan took a moment to cast her mind elsewhere. What was at her disposal..? Dehaka's leviathan could be commandeered, but he needed it, and she didn't. He was currently carrying out a critical mission, anyhow. A shame he was outside the hivemind, but that had it's benefits...

'Abathur' Kerrigan sent the thought out. 'Is the project complete?'

'No delay. Six hours.'

Kerrigan smirked. More power, less problems. Next, she checked on the situation on the ground. She was less than pleased to see a THIRD wave of zerg being obliterated by the defences at the starport, as the heroes pulled out another pocket of stamina, fighting inexhaustibly. At this rate, they'd manage to get both the Hyperion and Cook off the ground. That would be... less than ideal, to allow both the realm lords she'd cornered to slip through her fingers.

'Zagara. I hope you didn't underestimate them.'

'I failed to account for the Lava Wave. I believed it required a core to cast from...'

'It's too late for me to do anything about that now. Rush in with the main body as planned, do everything you can to get there before they can take off.'

'And Raynor? No change of orders?'

'Aim to kill, as always.'

Kerrigan looked out at the fight in the cosmos. This was wrong. All wrong. Things that never should have happened had happened. She'd been diverted from her rampage against Amon. Artanis, stripped of the experiences that shaped him. Raynor, Zeratul... even her own commanders, they were just _wrong_.

Yet she seemed to be the only one interested in that.

 **Author's notes: And the bare bones of Kerrigan's motivations! Alongside things getting into place for some decent action (and the OG Escape From Braxis) next chapter.**

 **A game for those who care- take a guess at Abathur's project or Dehaka's mission. Both are going to be very important events, to say the least.**

 **Reviewer answers!**

 **Starkiller Lord: Don't you worry, you can't have Mira without Matt. Although Matt is currently scrambling to get the Hyperion into the air, so you'll have to hold on a chapter or two.**


	5. Chapter 5: Mind Games

Varian approached Raynor, as everyone started to make preparations for their escape from Braxis. "...What's the current situation back at the port? I understand that your technology can send messages over long distances."

Raynor shook his head. "We're deep under the ground. Even a network that's able to cover the distance across space itself can't get through a mile of bedrock."

"I don't understand, but very well. We'll have to make do. I only pray that the demons are kept in check." Said Varian darkly. "...Do you have demons, in your world?"

"We don't have magic. Not much difference between ol' Red and the zerg though. I hear he even turns people into monsters." Raynor sighed, and started to search around for any kind of ammunition cache he could use to reload his gun.

Varian nodded, and went back to his own devices, as Jaina, Johanna and Cook worked together to create a proper exit strategy.

Jaina was currently trying to concoct a better plan than the current one. There were a few warp pads on Braxis that this chamber could be linked to, but all but two had been overrun with zerg, and the other one was so far away that the zerg would reach them before the medivacs. Assuming the medivacs didn't run out of fuel.

"Doctor, could you perhaps use your powers as a Realm Lord?" Suggested Jaina.

Cook grimaced, and tapped the gemstone at the top of his tie. "I am afraid not. The world beneath our feet is my realm, and Kerrigan has it by the throat. The 'power' a lord can exert of any type is equal to precisely one-hundredth of the powers of everybody who stands in the name of their realm. But my people are..." He went quiet. "...Well, I'm little stronger than a normal man now. If my people are slaughtered to the last, or infested and turned from me, then this power will disappear completely."

"...Kerrigan may hope to claim the title of lord for herself. Perhaps that means she's intentionally going to preserve this world's power." Jaina deduced. "I can't see any other reason to attack this place, unless the experiments you carry out are upsetting her. I won't lie, the notion of implanting a creature with an engine or gears seems... painful, if not cruel."

"My science is more sophisticated than that. Although before you ask, currently the control can I exert over my specimens is weak. I can barely direct them at a target, let alone use them to aid in our escape."

They continued to try and form a plan, unaware of the threats closing in around their escape route.

* * *

The first thing the zerg commander tasked with capturing Cook had done was locate and destroy any surveillance camera, from the furthest distance possible. Why let people know you're coming?

Next, it was a matter of methodically surrounding the two possible exit points as best as possible in a short amount of time. Contrary to popular belief, the locations weren't totally secret, and could be narrowed down to an area about four times the size of a football pitch.

The commander cast his eyes to the skies, as a few dozen mutalisks soared. He didn't have the time to set up anything more advanced than a hatchery here and morph more than he'd brought, nor did Kerrigan have the orbital superiority to drop one down. There was a genuine risk of his targets escaping if they could break free of his encirclement and a Medivac came down.

Creep spread had reached seventy percent. Metal wasn't the easiest surface to spread creep over, but it was very far from impossible. Ideally they'd reach full coverage before Cook made his move, and have a relatively easy time chasing them down.

There was a psionic blip in his mind. He put a claw to the side of his head.

Kerrigan's voice could be heard clearly. 'Are you in position?'

'Yes.'

'Okay. I need the singularity above all- everything else is secondary.'

'I understand.'

* * *

Cassia grew tired of waiting in the chamber, a master of making quick but effective preparations for battle. Everyone else was nursing wounds and repairing gear, but she'd taken all of two minutes to have her spear sharpened and her limbs flexed. She looked around. In fairness, a lot of the others had also realised that there had to be some sense of urgency to these preparations. While this room was safe, it had no rations and their chances of escape grew slimmer by the moment.

Uther, despite his advaced years- or more likely because of them, also seemed to grasp the danger of the situation. "Lady Jaina, we cannot linger."

"I know. But if I fail to at least have some idea of all incoming dangers, we could easily be blindsided." Jaina continued to pore over maps of the facility, and what meager information the security systems were relaying. "...I hate to say it, but I believe the general area is surrounded. I have no idea how to break through their lines."

"Have you considered our abilities?" Cassia walked up. "If the nephalem fight together, then ordinary troops are no match for them. You need only worry about traps and particularly powerful individuals."

"...Are you truly certain?" Jaina said hesitantly.

"Yes. You have seen them yourself."

Jaina nodded. "I suppose I just had to be as sure as I could. Okay. The best way out leaves us with one for-sure encounter with a small elite force, just by the terrain I see. But that doesn't seem to be the zerg's specialty."

Uther nodded approvingly. "If you have decided on a strategy, then we should move out at once."

"Very well. I will tell the others the plan." Jaina took the holo-tablet showing the maps, holding the unfamiliar technology awkwardly.

Cassia looked at her go, and got her spear ready. Everything was in order, as it should be. Her mind strayed to her fellows- the nephalem were all close allies that worked as a team, but she had trouble truly integrating with them, although they had the utmost respect for her. Tyreal showed some signs of damage upon his armour after the fight, but the chips had since faded away, and stains wiped themselves clean. "Uther, before we depart- your fighting. I notice that your swings lack power. Are you certain you are able to continue?"

Uther just chuckled. "The years simply weren't so kind. I haven't been able to really use this thing properly ever since I came here. I'm just thankful I don't have back pains."

"Training could well alleviate those problems. Once we are out of this, I'll be sure to come and spar against you."

"You know, it was only an hour ago you first started trying to convince me to train more. But regardless... I appreciate the concern. I've seen too many men have die for lack of training." Uther picked up his hammer. "...As one veteran to another, bless you."

"And you as well. Across worlds and even gods."

* * *

Cook selected the exit route Jaina had chosen, and set the teleporter to begin the sequence. "O-okay. I'll try to stay in a safe position... T-they probably won't kill me. They need me alive."

Raynor rolled his visor down and cocked his gun. "Won't protect you from the general crossfire. If we had some kind of shield, we'd give it to you. Stay central and don't be afraid to use us as shields. All of us have some protection, while that's a lab coat."

Cook nodded fearfully as the teleporter dinged. "T-teleporter primed. I'm counting on all of you, heroes."

There was a brief flash, and they found themselves inside a bunker, the hiss of some gas below their feet rapidly cooling. For a brief few moments, everyone was silent and poised to attack whatever unknown threat emerged from the corners of the room, but it was empty. Raynor checked one of the firing slits. "Creep out there. Once we break cover, then we'd better move _fast._ "

"On my mark." Called Varian, holding the door. "Raynor, lead the way. Three. Two. One." He ripped it open, and raised his shield. There was no immediate reaction, but very quickly a few zerglings seemed to come from every nook and cranny in the general area.

Raynor opened fire, mowing them down. "Don't bother trying to be sneaky. The creep gives our position away. Let's move!"

Everyone charged. Tyreal was the piece of the puzzle that kept Cook safe as everyone steadily broke through the flow of zerglings. While he others were more than capable of protecting able fighters and defeating the enemy, only he could provide a barrier to the diminished lord. A few spines flew past, and he had to move an arm in front of the docter to stop them hitting. Once the barbed bones had been pulled out of his armour, the damage began to repair itself under Tyreal's power.

But then things instensified, as the zerg had time to move more dangerous units into position. Banelings arrived in force and pushed Varian back, the front of his sheild horribly corroded. Before Johanna could take point as the tank, a wave of guardians came over the wall to their side, spitting acid. Most of the heroes were able to dodge or block, but Li-Ming took an unlucky hit and the acid began to eat away the cloth covering her thigh, burning the skin.

"Blast it! Yeow!" She slapped at the acid, before throwing her hands out to each side and causing a wave of force to knock the solvent off her body. She staggered a bit, before Uther repaired the wound. "Hah... that was a little uncomfortable."

"Stay alert, mage. We have a long way to go." Uther looked around, noticing the tiny flash of indignance that crossed Li-Ming's features at the word 'mage'. Many light injuries, but nothing major yet. "I don't have the mana to keep everyone in perfect shape. Kharazim, what of yourself?"

"I shall do what I can, but we must press forward."

And so they pressed on. The battle raged around the group, biting at every weakness they showed, throwing more units at them than they felt possible to deal with. Cassia's spear was slick with alien blood at this point, and everyone was starting to show a hint of tiredness as they reached a large metal doorway.

It seemed like a kind of parking bay. Four alcoves were on either side, with dented doors. What was visible of the floor had lines, and the large gate seemed like it would be an ideal point to set up a security checkpoint.

"Cook, can you open the door?"

"O-Of course, I just need to..."

There was a sound of someone knocking on the metal. The group hushed instantly.

"Who's there?" Raynor said.

There was a few seconds of silence, and then-

'Hold your Fire!'

Suddenly the floor erupted in a circle. Everyone hurried into an orb formation as a full squadron of armored infested soldiers broke free of the earth, rapidly encircling the group but not attacking, numbers rapidly swelling to a point where there was no gap in the circle- in just a second.

Raynor was teetering on the very brink of letting loose and trying to blow a hole in them when the circle parted.

One of the garage doors was ripped out of the frame effortlessly, clattering to the ground. Raynor saw the man walking out of it, and took a sharp breath. "...Are you... a UED Admiral?"

"You do not recognise me?" Asked Stukov. "Perhaps just a quirk of this place." The infested admiral turned his attention to the group. "...Ladies and Gentlemen. I apologize for cornering you like this, but things played out in a bit of a chaotic way. I am Vice-Admiral Alexei Stukov, currently under command of Kerrigan. I have been tasked with obtaining the Singularity of Braxis Holdout."

"...Why should I know you?" Raynor looked around.

"Before being brought here, we fought Amon in the Koprulu Sector. Do you not remember?" Stukov looked closely, before continuing. "No... clearly not. We did suspect there were problems with time judging by Abathur. You must be from before the point of my infestation. You must trust me. Returning to the Koprulu sector is gravely important. Kerrigan wants to use the singularity to send us home."

"...Kerrigan's backstabbed me to hell and back again. If you think I'll trust her word, then you have another think coming. And besides. None of us would sell out someone else's life! Who do you think I am, Mengsk?! Tell her to take a look at herself. If she really wants our help, she can get it by leaving innocent people alone for a start!" Raynor shouted.

"You're surrounded, James Raynor."

Raynor nudged Valla. "Nah. You're just spread out. Strafe them!"

* * *

Back at the starport, the Hyperion was making final checks before liftoff. Battlecruisers could spend years at a time in orbit provided they had the proper maintenance, so the preparations couldn't be half-baked.

Finally, an intercom rang. "This is Admiral Horner speaking. Get on board, and hurry. We're all getting home alive."

"Matthew, at last!" Mira smiled. "Come on, all aboard!" She walked into the building, followed by the raggedy band of heroes.

Greymane snagged her, as the rest of them boarded up. "King Varian and his party are still out there. I would hope we're heading out to get them?"

Mira smiled, shrugged, and slipped away. "Don't worry about it too much, last time we left someone important to the zerg it ended with Kerrigan."

Greymane's question being indirectly answered in such a way didn't please him. If he'd been in worgen form he'd have snarled and gone to find whoever was in charge, but as it was, he frowned and went to find whoever was in charge. Nobody was being left behind on his account. So, as the others all made their way into the ship, and the ground below him shook as they were taking off, he went up to the nearest guard.

"I need directions to the captain."

"Uh, he's... gonna be busy right now." Said the marine.

Greymane stood straight, and looked the man in the eye. The guard was likely in his twenties, definitely a veteran judging by his looks, and might have had a reasonable amount of willpower when opposed, but ultimately didn't want a fight. Compared to Greymane who could never quite dispel the aura of an alpha wolf. He'd seen things that matched the man before him. "I'm sure he can make an exception."

"Top deck, he'll be on the bridge. You don't need to disarm, but don't draw your weapon up there." Sighed the marine.

Greymane was off. It wasn't hard to find a way up, navigating the ship was no trouble. The corridors might have all looked similar, but it was simple enough to work out how to get to a place by just observing the people around you. So he eventually made his way to the top deck, which was small enough to guess where the bridge was.

He knocked on the door. No response.

He knocked harder. No response.

And, deciding he had no time to waste to make sure they were going to see that his king wasn't left on the planet, he pulled the door open, glad that the large blast door hadn't closed on top of it.

And walked in on a family spat.

"You never called! You never tried to check up on me while I was here!" Mira said, halfway angry, half hurt.

Matthew held his hands up. "I didn't think you'd been trapped in the nexus too! The first I heard about this was when Raynor gave me the distress call!"

Greymane cleared his throat. "Am I interrupting something." It wasn't a question.

Mira looked over slowly, and huffed. "As a matter of fact, you ARE. I have a lot of catching up to do, and at least two slaps and a kiss to deliver."

"You're the captain here, yes?" Genn pointedly ignored Mira. "Do you have a plan to make sure our earlier detachment comes back?"

Matthew nodded, glancing at Mira. "We'll move to get them shortly. Head down to the canteen for now. If you want to help, then just make sure they get accounted for when we're doling out rooms."

"If you're really so confident... Save this little quarrel for later, you two. I know a marital argument when I see one, and we don't need that right now." To his surprise, he saw Mira's face light up at his warning, and Matt's smile become imperceptibly tighter.

Mira's mouth spread into a wide grin. "Marital."

"... _Marital_." Matthew said delicately. "...Perhaps we should just save Raynor first?"

* * *

The infested soldiers weren't tough, but they collapsed onto the group with amazing numbers, almost crushing the heroes completely until Tyreal forced them back with a blessing. Valla let loose bolts in all directions, without any need to aim her shots in this situation, and Raynor concentrated his fire on Stukov, hoping to take out a major player in Kerrigan's forces.

It wasn't so simple. Stukov stepped back, allowing a few grunts to act as a meatshield, and Raynor quickly lost sight of him even as his gun tore the infested apart like nothing more than paper.

For four seconds, there was chaos. Four intense seconds of magic and science flying in the air, and it was over.

Cassia looked around quickly, and flicked some gunge off her spear. "...Those were humans."

"Infested. Best to think of them as already dead." Muttered Raynor. "Anyone hurt?"

Johanna spoke up. "Valla's taken a hit. Sir Uther, do you have any mana?"

Uther walked over, feeling the bruises of more than a few attacks himself. Kharazim and Valla were both worse for wear, struck by infested. Kharazim had blocked the worst of it, but Valla had a large rip across her hood, going on into a cut across the side of her head. "Worry not. There's always a lot of blood when the face is cut. Clean it out, and I'll seal it."

Valla nodded staunchly, and produced a very small handkerchief from under her gauntlet, before wiping her face. Uther reached out gently, and traced the cut with soft light. The skin was left unblemished, although the hood remained torn. "Thank you, paladin." She reloaded her two crossbows manually for once, and stood straight. "No time to waste. Onwards!"

Cassia nodded, and they set off at a run.

Stukov observed from afar, mustering forces. 'No co-operation, Kerrigan. I will make use of what you have sent me."

* * *

Greymane wanted to stay calm. But he rapped his fingers on the table, glaring at the computer ferociously. It was a monitor in the main hangar, where the Medivac should be recieved soon. But the Hyperion seemed to be hanging back from the holdout. He'd been given an explanation by Horner- they couldn't bring the whole ship down because it was a big target and the enemy had been given the time to set up defences that could potentially bring them down. Genn understood that- even if Azeroth had no battlecruisers, it certainly had warships and you didn't want to sail those into heavily guarded enemy docks.

Knowing that Matt was right to make them wait made it worse.

"It is quite surprising that someone with a temperament like that could be a leader." Drawled a ghostly voice.

In half a second, Genn had his gun cocked and pointing behind him, at Kel'Thuzad. There was a tense second. "You ought to know better than to do anything remotely threatening right now."

Kel'Thuzad clasped his hands together. "I'm merely gathering information." He paused for a moment, the air growing slightly colder. "Tell me something, are you planning to stay and defeat this threat in entirety, or simply return to Alterac? For a matter of fact, why is everyone so concerned with Alterac?"

"It's no business of yours. Just because we share the cause of getting through this doesn't mean I have to offer you an ounce of trust."

"Likewise. But for now, we require plans. I... _trust_ you are confident in your machinations, dog." The voice of the lich grew slightly condescending, as he turned to leave.

"Dog? Well, it has been an awfully long time since I had a bone to gnaw on." Sniped Greymane. He went back to keeping an eye on the console, ready to jump into action the second they moved.

It took another ten minutes before a different hero came down into the bay. Most of the soldiers and mechanics that milled around looked suspiciously, but none raised a weapon. Brightwing glided over the railings at the top of the room, coming down to land next to Genn. "Hello, wolfie. What is friend doing?"

Genn didn't mind humoring her. "I'm watching out for Varian. We'll move in to rescue him soon, and my help may be needed."

"Ooh. Fun. Friend want help? Brightwing like to help." She scratched the table. "But Shan'do and Tyran'do are in bad mood. Do not like this place. No nature."

"It's no surprise. They barely tolerated the gnomes. So, if you'll help, then I want you to keep king Varian safe while he gets on board. You know him?"

She perked up, and fluttered. "Know him. Has sword that go swoosh-shing-shwap!"

"Right then. Stand at the ready."

* * *

Traversing the infested Braxis Holdout was tough. Brutally tough. More than once, Dr. Cook nearly lost a limb or his life to flying attacks, and as they pressed forwards even warriors as skilled and strong as the heroes began to wear down. Sonya seemed to shrug off any and all damage despite her chainmail bikini, although between fights it became increasingly clear that the fury that was allowing her to stand in the face of death was slowly getting her killed. Kharazim did all he could to sustain her, but some blood still ran down her.

A gaggle of zerglings broke out from a vent, going straight for Jaina. She swung her staff and froze them solid. A wave of infested mixed into the ambush, and one got a clean hit, then Varian took the head off. Jaina stumbled, before Uther waved the injury away, sweat covering his forehead.

"Can't keep this up." He said tightly.

Raynor patted his shoulder, as the group kept jogging. "Nearly at the extraction point. Should be just around the corner."

They came to a large gate, heavily fortified. The infestation seemed to peter out around it, and everyone looked forwards. The Medivac circled in the air, and Jaina and Li-Ming breathed a sigh of relief, while the others kept as wary as they could. But for all that wariness, they didn't see one infested with a pair of binoculars in the distance, observing the gate.

They fumbled for a pocket with their better hand, drawing out a radio with a cough. They pressed it to the side of their head. "Vice-Admiral. Targets are in position, ETA thirty seconds."

"Good work, Benjamin."

The gate opened, as Raynor put in a code. He went for his in-suit communicator, trying to signal Morales that they were entering the pickup zone. But only static came through.

"Dammit, I can't reach her. That Stukov must have some kind of jammer." He said. "I'll flag her down regardless. Let's get out of here." Raynor walked around the corner, into the bay. The rest of the heroes followed.

It was a wide-open place, plenty of room to take a ship in or out and no good location to set up an anti-air weapon. High walls on all sides made it perfect for keeping enemies out, and Cassia noted that the flooring was completely metal, unlike the occasional patch of hard dirt in the rest of the facility. Still, she stayed wary. Something about this place made her feel unsafe. She glanced at Uther. "What do you make of this? It seems too easy."

"Easy?" Said Jaina. "We nearly died."

Uther looked around, nodding slowly. "Lady Cassia is right. Even if they threw a lot of foes at us, it would have been child's play to set up an ambush here. And didn't you predict an encounter with elite troops?"

Jaina shifted. "I did... They've had time to get whatever kind of special forces they want here. But I don't see any enemies."

There was a sudden crash, as one of the walls folded over under the weight of a truly gigantic zerg- it was plated in armour, bristling with guns, and bearing heavy tusks. Stukov's Apocalisk.

As everyone scrambled to attack it, a surge of infested troops jumped over the other wall, charging the backline of the group.

* * *

Kerrigan began to get ready to break off the orbital fight. Artanis' ship wasn't broken yet, but she'd done some damage and her own ship needed nothing more than minerals to repair the damage. In the time that her prey had spent preparing an escape plan, she'd managed to destroy many protoss vessels, and had nearly managed to exhaust her reserves of troops.

But now, her pet project had come to fruition. It would make a nice parting gift to Artanis, hopefully enough to cripple his ship until she could come back and finish the job.

'Abathur, ready?'

'Subject infestation complete. Spun on cellular level. Biological signs optimal. Hivemind connected. Ready.'

'Wake them up.' Smirked Kerrigan.

* * *

The fight was going disastrously. Cassia could barely keep herself alive, and had lost track of the others under the chaos of the fight. They'd been hit devastatingly, the vulnerable backline jumped by Stukov's forces and either scattered or worse. All Cassia knew was that they weren't firing on the Apocalisk.

She blocked an infested soldier's claws and cut them down without hesitation, but had to run before the destructive power of the Apocalisk shredded her. The hail of bullets briefly touched her, and instantly her shield and armour dented a dozen times, digging into her skin painfully. Cassia knew if she hadn't covered her face, it would have been lethal.

Someone hit it with a gigantic amount of force, throwing the creature back. The saviour was revealed to be Tyreal, as he rose into the air and plunged El'druin into the skull of the creature. Cassia was hopeful that would kill it, but without pause it swatted the archangel like a fly, crushing him into the floor while he struggled.

More infested came into the fight, and one caught Cassia's eye. Stukov himself was here, leading the charge.

Could they really win?

Nobody was going to give up. Tyreal and Sonya forced the Apocalisk to lose ground, while Varian bought Jaina the space she needed. There was a huge explosion of frost, and the great zerg was stopped in place, momentarily disabled. The rest of the heroes counterattacked the infested.

But they were taking too much damage. Even as they surged forwards, trying to reach Stukov, Cassia included, they couldn't keep up entirely, injuries were accumulating fast. She saw it a split second too late. An infested had obscured Stukov for just a moment, and then without further warning he'd stretched his arm out to six times normal length, and swung it hard.

Everyone was knocked flat. Cassia and a few others tried to get back on their feet, but all too quickly the infested grabbed them pinning them.

Stukov brushed himself off. "You had your chance to give up."

"Stukov! Damn you! I'll- agh!" Raynor had his arm twisted by one of the infested that was subduing him,

Stukov walked forwards, unpeturbed. Looking for someone. And he found them, alive. "Doctor. I'll take the singularity now."

Cassia struggled, doing all she could to break free of the grip she was under, but it was no good. Her javelin was just out of reach, and her strength was exhausted by the earlier fighting. Stukov had reached Cook.

And then her captor spasmed. It was brief, but it was enough. She threw them to the ground instantly, and watched as the Nephalem seemed to suddenly become something else. In the space of a second all six broke free, surging with vigor.

Stukov himself panicked, stepping back. "What is the meaning of this!?"

His troops were glowing with red energy, moving stiffly. Stukov himself grabbed his head just a few moments after he finished speaking, as some of that same power flickered around him, and he sunk to his knees.

Sonya ripped the arm clean off the infested that had already been struggling to subdue her, and proceeded to beat the captor with it. Valla had no problem slipping free and when she fired her crossbow, the bolt seemed to eat away at the very form of the soldier.

It only took seconds for Li-Ming and Kharazim to warp out of trouble, and like their brethren they obliterated the foe in just a few hits.

Cassia kept struggling, but only felt more overwhelmed, as did Raynor and Varian. She struggled hard, but her enemy seemed stronger, brimming with a power that- wait.

She recognised this power. She would have known it anywhere.

Demonic power. _Diablo's_ power.

Valla put an arrow through her captor's head, and Cassia sprung up, but the fight was over. Stukov's footsoldiers were wiped out, his apocalisk was broken down and recovering from Jaina's explosion of frost, and the commander was kneeling paralysed.

"Demonic power. How did this happen?" Cassia stepped forwards, pushing through the pain of her injuries. Much more and she was sure she'd be dead.

Uther shook his head. "Never mind that, let's use this chance to escape! It would be foolish to throw our lives away here!"

"On it." Raynor started waving up to Morales.

Johanna nodded, her surge of power from fighting demons seeming to have faded. The rest of the Nephalem agreed, and Sonya picked up Cook with one arm, looking to Valla. She was standing there with fire in her eyes.

"Don't slip again." Said Sonya simply.

Valla blinked slowly. "Okay. But we can't let him live." She cocked her crossbow, and fired a bolt straight into Stukov's skull.

* * *

Kerrigan too was gritting her teeth, trying not to succumb to the pull of Diablo. Madness coursed and surged through the hivemind, and images of all her worst fears and memories lashed against what little humanity she had. She saw Raynor dead, she saw the Xel'Naga artifact exploding, she saw Fenix, she saw Mengsk.

She grabbed the wall to steady herself, and screamed.

It took a few seconds for the wave of power to pass, and then she was left standing there. She pressed a hand against her head. 'Everyone, sound off.'

Zagara's voice came through. 'I have lost control of my brood!'

Abathur was silent.

It took a second, and then Stukov came through. 'My men are dead. I'm a little worse for wear. What the hell was that, Kerri-'

The power surged again, and the conversation was ripped from their minds. Kerrigan saw Narud, she saw Korhal, she saw a rifle in her hands and she saw the inside of a banshee, newsfeed rolling. She took a steady breath.

"Bastard." She said to nobody in particular. A fleeting thought told her she should have directed it at Diablo. It was around this point that she realised that she also couldn't feel a connection to any of her smaller zerg. Or her Leviathan.

It took a few seconds for the full implications of that to sink in.

 **Author's notes: And Kerrigan really, really made a mistake. This story isn't going to be quite so straightforwards!**

 **Reviewer answer!**

 **Venom Rules All: Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6: Disengage

Morales brought the medivac down at top speed, cranking it to a stop and slamming the loading bay open. "Everyone IN!"

They hurried to get into the back of the ship, while the other one landed next to it to take the remainder of the troops. Zerg were closing in on the area fast, glowing with demonic power. The second everybody had loaded up, the ramp snapped shut and Morales slammed the accelerator, which in turn slammed everyone against the loading ramp which thankfully stayed shut.

Nazeebo walked up the middle of the accelerating medivac, and leaned over Morales' shoulder. "We should regroup. The demons won't have much trouble chasing you down."

Morales was more freaked out by somebody managing to walk up a slope that was accelerating away from them than the prospect of being shot down, but it was a close second. She grabbed the radio and shouted a few things. "We're getting back to the Hyperion, stat! ETA?"

'Five minutes, they're coming for us.'

Morales put down the radio, as the ascent levelled out and they stopped accelerating, cruising at a cool 300mph. "Everyone, buckle up quickly! We have hostiles pursuing!"

They spread through the vehicle and quickly strapped up, nursing bumps and bruises from the takeoff. Varian immediately grabbed Johanna's attention. "You're sure they're possessed by demons?"

"No doubt, my friend. You should leave them to us. This is what we're good at." Johanna kept her shield close, making sure it wouldn't fly off if they had to do an evasive manoeuvre.

Morales kept an eye on her control panel as they flew, for any sign of trouble. Even the fastest zerg couldn't keep up with them, but you could never be too cautious. Her fuel gauge had drained more than she was comfortable with. The engines were too hot for prolonged running, but at this altitude would cool off.

* * *

The relay to Kerrigan's contingency plan was currently experiencing some technical difficulties as the Queen Of Blades and Lord Of Terror struggled for control over the hivemind. Zagara's leviathan was in orbit, currently beaten into submission by the Spear of Adun. Kerrigan's had been pulled back to relative safety, the intensity of the command piercing the hivemind's turmoil. Stukov's _Aleksander_ was planetside, currently in the process of takeoff with the admiral having pulled twelve inches of crossbow bolt from his head with an irate groan. Abathur's leviathan, where Diablo had been released, was currently spinning out of control in the middle of the orbital firefight, threatening to enter the range of Artanis' Purifier Beam, better spelled as Certain Death. That left one unaccounted for.

Dehaka's leviathan had been sent down to the planet first, as quickly as possible so to avoid detection. His entire pack had worked to quickly cover it in a thin layer of dirt, and avoid detection. The intention was to act as Kerrigan's insurance- if something, anything went wrong and Cook had a chance of escaping the planet, then the idea was for him to fly out and intercept.

The leviathan had just told him that the Hyperion was airborne when it had started to emanate fearful energy. Dehaka had been on the verge of ordering it to stay low, trusting instinct, but then it seemed to clear.

 _They must have used a psidisruptor._

The nerve centre was where any commands were given to the titan of a ship, and where Dehaka currently spurred it upwards. It struggled against his command, but was designed to obey a physical input over all but the strongest psionics, and had lifted off. His pack, obedient to him for the same reasons he followed Kerrigan, were outside the hivemind. He lifted it off, commanding it to chase down the Hyperion.

 _A necessary move for survival. Must return to Koprulu. Cannot. Flee._

* * *

Morales heard an incoming transmission, and picked it up. "This is Medivac One."

"This is Jimmy. Matt's got you on radar, we'll have you in a minute. Prep for landing."

Morales ended the transmission. "We're coming in for a landing! If anyone needs medical attention, then I'll stay in the hangar until debriefing. Please remain seated, it could get bumpy." She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, wishing she'd gotten it cut before accompanying Raynor to the meeting with Artanis.

They flew straight for a few more seconds, until the radar started to ping. Morales eyed it, expecting to see the Hyperion's marker flag up. A red splotch appeared instead.

'Leviathan' Read a little tag, just as the Hyperion also came into range.

"Oh no." Morales kept her voice down, and put on her best version of a calm pilot. "Ladies and Gents, we're about to experience some rough moves. If you like your bones unbroken, hold on." She reached behind the wheel and flicked off the piloting assistance, opening up the full range of movement for the Medivac- as well as the full range of options to accidentally crash it.

She hit the communicator. "This is Medivac One to the Hyperion. Hostile approaching from below, prepare for emergency retrieval manoeuvre!"

"...Hostile detected." Responded Matt, a trace of worry in his voice. "Roger. Warp in ten!"

Rosa slammed the brakes, switching the engines to hang in the air.

* * *

From the command room, Dehaka saw it stop moving. The Hyperion was still getting closer. While the tactics confused him, it was clear that there was something at work here.

The Leviathan was picking up speed, thousands upon thousands upon thousands of kilos of psionic force being exerted to accelerate it towards the Hyperion. The plan was to slam it and then launch Nydus Worms in aggression and bring it back to earth for Kerrigan to pick apart at leisure. Though at the current momentum, Dehaka had no doubts they were going to escape orbit instead.

It was instinct that took over the decision-making process here, normally a poor way to guide yourself, but Dehaka was honed. He switched course by five degrees, for the easier target. There was something about it that felt important.

* * *

The Hyperion entered range, and Matt gave the order. "Tactical warp!"

"Roger!" Mira elbowed the captain of the ship out of the way and slammed the button, and there was a feeling of weightlessness for a split second.

For a moment, Matt was concerned that the ship had literally just taken on fifty people that had no experience with warp sickness and sent them all to the canteen. Then training took over and he grabbed the communicator, opening a channel to the Medivac. "Status?"

"Success. I'll offload now!" Rosa responded, relief surging through her voice. The emergency rescue manoeuvre that had been agreed on for the Hyperion and an airborne target consisted of the target staying still, and whoever was on the bridge initiating a tactical warp to place them into the hangar. It relied on getting the warp accuracy within a gnat's whisker, but through use of beacons and triangulation, they'd managed it.

Which, in this case, resulted in the entire ship getting rammed by a Leviathan. Matt crumpled to the floor under the unexpected shock of g-force, Mira flailed like a drunken brawler and at least four different alarms started blaring. Matt scrambled to get to his feet, and saw they were leaving the atmosphere at an alarming pace. Not that they hadn't planned to do that, but the alarms were a bit concerning.

Mira grabbed the console with a broad grin, singularity on her chest glinting. "Well, Matthew dear, I don't know WHAT that move was, but I _love_ it."

Matt reached his communications board as Raynor shut off two of the alarms. "Matt, we've lost pressure on the lower deck." He warned. "I'm putting us in lockdown before anyone gets sucked out."

He nodded, reopening the channel to Morales as he eyed his displays to try and figure out what had just hit them, although in his heart he knew only one thing could have out out that much force. "Rosa?! Any casualties?!"

"Negative, sir."

"Okay..." Outside the windows, things grew darker. They'd breached the atmosphere and entered space. Right into the middle of the orbital fight. "Right, prepare a second warp! We have to leave now, with damages like this!"

* * *

Brought into closer proximity to Kerrigan than Diablo, the Leviathan Dehaka was controlling recieved a message.

'DEHAKA PULL BACK NOW!'

It came through in it's full 97-decibel glory, about as loud as a lorry going past at high speed. Dehaka flinched internally at the unexpected blast, but remained in control and commanded the leviathan to pull away, regardless of the opportunity that was slipping away. He'd lived long enough to know that plans could require you to miss some opportunities in the short term.

"Queen, of, blades. What are, your orders?"

'The hivemind is compromised. We need to pull back and get control of it again. Cover our retreat. If you have no options, then let Abathur's leviathan be destroyed and we'll cut our losses.'

Dehaka took view of the spacefight. Hyperion was warming up for another warp, a giant dent in the bottom of the hull. It wasn't much of a threat after that lucky strike, but the Spear Of Adun was in a position that made things awkward, to say the least. One false move and he'd be obliterated by the firepower of the arkship.

Still, so long as he didn't get too close or go underneath the ship where the Purifier Beam was located...

On his orders, some mutalisks were dispatched to ward off phoenixes, while Abathur's leviathan managed to halt its spinning motions and start to move away. As it passed by, another wave of fear washed through Dehaka and he found himself crouched, sure he was about to be attacked... but the feeling passed.

Hyperion warped out. Abathur's leviathan was in full retreat. Dehaka pulled back, too.

* * *

Four hours later, Matt had managed to make his way down to the canteen. It smelled of bleach. The heroes he'd helped rescue were sitting around, tired from their battles across the face of Braxis. It was plain to see that most of them needed sleep and food. Matt called for attention.

The general chatter died down. Soon, everyone was looking at Matt expectantly.

"Everyone, I'm sorry for the delays. We took significant structural damage in that impact earlier, so we will need time to repair the damage. Until then, I must warn you not to attempt to force any door open if it is locked, or you risk being sucked into space- for those of you not familiar with space travel, just know that it will kill you instantly. While on board this ship, I need to impose some rules on all of you.

First of all, no infighting. I don't prohibit weaponry, but you mustn't use it unless it's a matter of life and death in case you damage anything. I'm not familiar with magic, but please be especially careful not to cast any spell that could threaten the ship. If you have a problem with someone, then see me and I'll do what I can,"

Next, you're all going to have to help us with some daily chores, since we'll be busy with repairs. I'll post a rota in this room later when I have all your names. No excuses for missing them. Failure will result in punishment, although I hope you all realise that we're in a situation where we all must pitch in."

Lastly, I've reorganized the marines to free up some rooms. There's space for four adults per room, so group yourselves accordingly. The rooms can be found on corridor two-thirteen, anyone will give you directions. Regarding our fight with the zerg, we still don't understand what's going on and would ask your patience. If you have information to contribute, please come to the bridge. That is all."

Matt finished with his explanation of the situation and bowed out, Quickly, the people in the room started to split into groups. Azmodan was left sitting in the corner, and Ragnaros had been confined to the heatproof engineering bay after the floors had started to melt in his presence.

Some roommates were obvious. Varian, Greymane, Uther and Muradin stuck together like glue. Thrall, Rehgar and Gazlowe wouldn't be separated, although for the moment they couldn't see a good third member, Gul'dan decidedly not welcome. Jaina had no problem partnering herself with Cassia, Valla and Johanna, welcoming the chance to learn a little more about another world.

Lúcio wasn't really sure who to go to. He saw Zarya find Sonya and Li-ming acceptable, and while they were one short he didn't want to disrespect the unspoken rule of 'you only room with the same gender'. He felt someone approach behind him, and looked to see Tyreal in all his glory.

"I sense a heart seeking justice. Perhaps you would be a suitable choice for this?" The suit of golden armour extended a hand. "I am the archangel Tyreal. What is your name?"

Lúcio got over the shock of speaking to a celestial entity fairly quickly, and returned the handshake solidly. "I'm Lúcio Corriea Dos Santos. Uh, just call me Lúcio, sir. I'd be happy to room with you. Any ideas who else you want?"

"I think that the monk Kharazim, and maybe that druid..."

* * *

After all was said and done, Brightwing ended up with Falstad, Nazeebo and Greymane. Matt had yet to post the chores everyone was expected to pitch in with, and they had planned to go to their rooms and rest for the moment before Morales pulled them aside.

"Before you go, I need to check you- or your mounts for any kind of biohazards. We can't risk making anyone sick."

Which was why they were waiting outside the medbay. It was a small room, since the only injuries that needed extended care were ones that had been healed wrong, and so really was used exclusively for checkups. Falstad had protested that he kept clean until Morales had pointed at his gryphon.

Greymane had sat and grumbled while Morales instructed him to come in. "I really don't see the point of this, I'm afraid. Do you really think the king of Gilneas to be dirtier than the orcs?"

Morales crossed her arms. "Don't you try and get out of it. I know you're some kind of werewolf, and so I need to make sure you don't have any fleas or ticks. I am NOT having them spread. Shift."

He grumbled some more, rippling with black smoke for a second until he was sitting there in Worgen form. "Fine. I've seen disease outbreaks before."

The medic went into a drawer and took out a fine comb. She got a bit closer. "How did your clothes rip?"

"Side effect. They'll mend themselves." Greymane explained, looking at the comb. "...Get on with it."

"Alright. Looks like you've not been properly washed recently, so it's all tangled. This might tug a bit." She reached up behind Greymane, and put the comb on top of his head.

Outside the room, Brightwing and Falstad heard a yelp and some whimpering, and looked at each other in confusion. Then there was a bang and a clatter inside the room, and the door rattled once as if kicked, before there was another rattle.

"Oh for-" Morales looked at the comb in her hand with a tuft of fur now stuck in it. "I wasn't pulling that hard, why did you jerk _away_ from me?!"

Greymane kept a hand over the point where the comb had been. "Because if you jerk into your attacker, you normally die!" He snarled, surveying the room he'd run around before straightening himself up. "Just gibe me that. I'll brush myself." He snatched the comb from Morales.

To her surprise, there was no obvious bald spot when he took his hand off his head. Apparently the coat was just that thick. Much to her chagrin, the comb was pulling a lot of half-shed fur out and onto her previously clean floor. This was why there was normally a strict rule against pets! But regardless, he came out clear of fleas, thankfully. She had no idea what she would do short of putting the Irradiation mod onto her healing beam and hoping for the best. Or maybe trying an anti-zerg procedure could do the trick.

Regardless, ten minutes later Greymane walked out of the room in human form, and Morales was left to sweep and clean her checkup room before calling in Nazeebo. The witch doctor came in wearing his gigantic mask, and Morales braced for a lot of things. Poison spiders. Poison Toads. Someone that likely believed chanting to drive out illness was effective.

Instead, Nazeebo sat down and calmly lifted off his mask. Underneath, he was still just as dark-skinned, with a pair of large discs through his ears and a kindly old face. "Greetings. I take it you'd like I keep the voodoo out of here, yes?"

"I- uh- Of course. I just need to check you for any illness, since you handle poisonous animals, so..." She went for a box behind herself.

"They are not real. Conjurations of the spirits, to aid me. But of course, you are a spirit of facts. To you, there is no such thing as a conjuration. You may be right." Nazeebo said. "Oh, and by the way, your missing sock is down the side of your bed. It never reached the laundry."

Morales blinked. How did he know she'd lost a sock? "I think we ought to talk about the strangeness of existence later. Please take a swab of the inside of the cheek. I'll test for anything harmful and call if there's a problem."

Nazeebo swabbed, and got up to leave. Morales hesitated, about to say something.

"Don't worry about my posture. I don't feel neck pains." He said preemptively, putting the mask back on and leaving.

Next was Falstad, who guided his gryphon through the door with some trouble. This was the part Morales had been dreading. Trying to deal with a mythical creature. All fun and games in the stories, but reality meant someone needed to look after it like any old horse. If the horse was half-feline, half-hawk, and flying in the face of both biology and physics. At least with the zerg you had an idea of how a lifeform was possible.

"So, we don't really have a checkup procedure for gryphons." Started Morales. "And I'm a doctor, not a veterinarian, but I'm going to go through the basics. Let's start by combing her... him..?"

"His name is Swiftwing. Don't you worry, we keep our mounts in good nick." Falstad patted the beast, and it sat. "You got a second brush?"

She rummaged in the draws. "I have a fine comb or a very fine comb. I'm going to take a mouth swab, it's the most painless way I can check for anything wrong. Can you please make sure he doesn't bite my hand?"

"Oh, he doesn't bite. We train 'em properly. They're smart too. Smarter than some folks, at least." Morales handed him a comb, and Falstad started combing through Swiftwing's fur expertly. "Be done in a jiffy. You show me what a swab is before I let it near me gryphon."

Morales held up a small plastic spatula. "You just take a small amount of spit and cells from the inside of the mouth. Then I can analyse it for any diseases. I'll have to do everyone, but animals are priorities since they can carry worse without telling us."

"Oh, is that all? A wee bit of slobber? Swiftwing, open wide."

The gryphon opened its mouth and sat still. Morales very cautiously swabbed it and then snapped her hand back, having horrible visions of losing a finger to the mount.

"And shut." Said Falstad. It obeyed. "Good lad. I'll feed ya something later."

"Okay, easy enough." Morales said, setting it into her machinery. "Please try to keep him from making a mess, our cleaners are barely good enough for me already."

"Got it. Ya know if there's anywhere to get some red meat?"

"Try asking around the canteen."

Which concluded her third 'urgent' checkup. It seemed that most of the heroes took good care of themselves, although she was already dreading having to find some way to exempt Ragnaros from the system without all the marines using him to get out of their own routine checks. There were times when she felt like the only one that cared about keeping herself alive, let alone others! Support syndrome at its' finest.

Well, that only left one more. Emboldened by the three successes thus far, Morales stepped outside the door to see her last subject. Brightwing was just flitting about. "Ok. You speak english, yes?"

"Yes yes."

"Come in." Morales held the door open, and let Brightwing through. "I just need to make sure that you're not sick. It would spread terribly in a ship."

Brightwing tilted her head to one side. "Not sick. Do not think."

"I'm just going to take a mouth swab and that'll be all. Otherwise, do you need an introduction to basic rules of hygiene on a ship?"

"High-green?"

"Hygiene. Keeping yourself and your surrounding area cleaned to prevent the spread of disease." Morales got out the last swab for the moment. "I'll need you to land for a moment and hold your mouth open."

"Shan'do explain that early time ago. Brought me along to talk, with mister king Varian." She went sulky for a moment. "Weird rules. No eat kill unless in weird place."

"Open, please.

"Blahhh."

Morales reached in to do her final swab, and with enough force to made her immediately uncomfortable, Brightwing shut her mouth.

"Chompf." She said, muffled. Morales was stuck in a brief moment of 'this isn't what I signed up for' before Brightwing opened her mouth again. "Heehee. Funny face."

"Please don't. I have enough stress already."

"Aw."

* * *

In the bar, Muradin was knocking back his much-needed third glass of beer. Not quite as good as the ale he was used to, but passable. And it made the storytelling much more enjoyable. "So there I am!" He wheezed, trying to contain himself. "Standing in front of this guy, while he's _covered_ in coal dust, and ya know what he says?" He laughed more. "I was cooking soup, you know how it is! Bahahah!" He took another deep sip of the beer.

Rehgar put his own glass down hard enough for the bartender to be glad they were actually plastic, in case of rowdy marines. "Soup? I absolutely don't know how it is?! How do you mess up soup that badly!"

Muradin was absolutely gasping for air, as he managed to get out an "I don't know!"

Thrall watched the two increasingly drunken fighters continue to entertain the bar, while nursing his glass of water. This whole situation- spaceships, zerg, and needing to ensure there were no fights between his people and the likes of bloody Gul'dan and Arthas was a lot to deal with. And that was before he recalled Drek'thar's words to him before he came here.

'Recruit or slay she who commands the endless army.'

He frowned. Endless army? Recruit or slay, he could handle. There were some people you couldn't leave alive if they weren't serving you. But no army was endless. Even in the horde, you needed some leader to worry about supplying troops with weapons and armour and food. And the leader of such an army... well, even if Thrall agreed he didn't want an endless army turned against him, how would he hope to take down such a leader?

Perhaps it would be a good move to just clear his head and focus on what was happening at the moment. No matter how far ahead a seer may see, it doesn't matter if you don't reach the future.

Thrall kept the Doomhammer on hand as he got up from the table. There was another matter he needed to take care of, actually. Most of the room was focused on Muradin and Rehgar, while Nazeebo used spiritual guidance to cheat at poker against the marines.

He made his way over to a table at the back, where Jaina was watching the room like a hawk. "Jaina. You seem troubled."

"Kel'Thuzad." She answered automatically, before seeing who was speaking to her. Her tone got a little less neutral. "Oh. Thrall. You can sit down."

Thrall looked where Jaina was looking, and spotted the lich skulking in the corner. Apparently losing at poker. "I don't intend to trouble you. I just wanted to know if you understand anything about this... spaceship. Or our situation in general."

"I'll tell you what I know, but there's a question I need you to answer too." Jaina said. "...Oh, watch out. Zarya needs to get by with her drink."

Thrall shifted to let the russian carrying a bottle of vodka and a protein shake get past. "Of course. ...Within reason. I may not be sure if the Alterac conflict is something that should have been escalated to the level it has been, but I'll not betray anyone."

"Well, to answer your question- I don't know much. The metalwork is more advanced than anything I've ever seen, and I don't think there's any magic used either. I think our best chance at returning home would be to convince Cook, or perhaps Mira to open a portal back to the realms we're used to." Jaina mused. Then she turned serious. "Now for my question. Thrall, why _exactly_ have you been avoiding me since Garrosh came here. I know he doesn't outrank you. And with the way you've been acting, keeping the peace has been almost impossible. Alterac could well become an all-out war because we weren't trying to stop it. So you'd better explain yourself!"

Thrall felt a thin film of sweat form on his brow. Garrosh had told him everything. Garrosh had tried to completely take over Thrall's rudimentary horde, and had nearly succeeded. But his bragging of 'accomplishments' in his life...

Theramore. The mana bomb. Jaina had lost everything but her life.

How could he begin to explain that he handed Garrosh the power to kill everyone she loved?

"It... that's something... I should explain when we're not in such a precarious situation." Thrall muttered. "I will try to work with you to get through this." He got up hurriedly, walking away. He didn't like to do this. He felt a coward. But he couldn't bring himself to risk the fallout now, he told himself.

Jaina just frowned at the refusal to answer, and returned to keeping an eye on the undead.

 **Author's notes: we're going to have a chapter or two of filler/interaction before I advance the overarching plot, for two reasons- one, it helps flesh out all the heroes a bit and lets me do some worldbuilding, two, the comics aren't doing it and this is a multi-crossover with godlike potential for interactions! So I'll pick up on their shortcomings.**

 **Reviewer answer!**

 **TJtrack99: Well, I think this answers the question of what Dehaka was doing rather directly, and likely Abathur and Diablo, but specifics are still to be revealed... Glad to know this seems overall good, it's insanely hard to gauge how well you're writing without outside opinions.**


	7. Chapter 7: Bonding

Sleep came to people in different ways. Cassia looked at Johanna, who was sleeping peacefully. Without her armour, the crusader looked just as indestructible. She wondered how somebody who had fought the armies of hell like her could manage to sleep without somebody watching their back.

Soundly, apparently.

On the bunk above her, she was sure Jaina was also asleep, the mage having exhausted herself thoroughly over the last day. She'd handled herself far too well in that battle to be new to fighting. And the power she could output was indeed impressive. Although Cassia worried that there was something Jaina was dealing with, as she'd come in late, and consumed by her thoughts.

But Valla also wasn't sleeping. Her eyes glowed dimly now, but she was propped against the wall, clearly also thinking.

"...Valla. If you are uncomfortable, I'll keep watch." Offered Cassia quietly.

Valla looked up. "How can we be expected to place our trust in the likes of Azmodan?"

Cassia nodded sympathetically. "...We _don't_ trust him. The only reason we don't kill him is because he might be able to take the ship down before he dies. If he makes one wrong move, then I have no problem slaying a demon, regardless of its power."

"You're as reliable as the legends say." Valla said. She hesitated for a moment. "Tell me, do you know anything of my past life? I know only that I died."

Cassia's mind wandered to Jaina briefly, hoping she was truly asleep. "You were much the same as you are now. I can barely tell the difference at times. You always joined forces with your fellow nephalm, and myself and my allies, to help seek out and destroy demons before they could pose a threat to the rest of the Nexus."

"I see... and the things I did? People I met?"

"...You've already met most of them." Answered Cassia. "The things you did, well, you slew Diablo twice, with our help. Azmodan, and The Butcher too. You helped protect the fledgeling towns from many hazards. You were a great help. I'd expect nothing less from a Nephalem."

Valla took a quiet breath. "And how did I die?"

Cassia closed her eyes. "It's a harsh thing to tell you. Are you sure?"

"I won't fail if I can help it. Vengeful intent means nothing if I am dead."

"Your desire for vengeance was your undoing." Cassia stated. "Mephisto found his way into the nexus. And unbeknownst to us, he began to curse you. Amplifying the hatred within your mind. Attacking the discipline you use to keep it under control. And eventually, it broke. You were lost to battle rage, until eventually you were surrounded and killed."

"I see... but why couldn't the others bear to tell me?"

"That's something I cannot say. Perhaps they need time."

Valla lay back. "..." The flames over her eyes grew brighter for a few moments, perhaps in restrained anger, or simply in thought.

"You'd best recover your strength. Do you need anything to help you sleep?" Said Cassia, unsure what she'd actually do if the answer was yes. You could hardly find a sleeping potion in this metal vessel.

"I'm okay." Valla pulled the cover over herself.

* * *

Breakfast was served from seven to half eight (onboard time). The cooks were artisans at their craft, skilled beyond belief in the ancient practice of opening cans and putting the contents into a saucepan. And then waiting slightly too long, to ensure the food was both safe to eat and tasted bad enough to make you wish it wasn't.

"What in the twisting nether is this?" Illidan held up what was meant to be a sausage, from an off-brand can of baked beans and sausages. "It's not meat. It's not a vegetable. Not even demon flesh."

Malfurion just ate the baked beans calmly. "You're under no obligation to eat. I think I shall start a garden once I find the space. Now, to grow tomatoes or herbs first..?"

Zarya walked up, and sat down. Her tray had a full-sized breakfast, with the carbs swapped out for proteins. "Food is good, no?"

Malfurion eyed one of the sausages, wondering exactly what it was comprised of. "It is... tolerable. What I'd give for some fresh fruit and vegetables... I don't agree with something as unnatural as this."

Zarya shrugged. "Natural diet, not bad choice for health, but can make it difficult to pack muscle." She started chewing through bacon. "Anyways, am looking for workout partner. Miss Sonya cannot join me until afternoon."

Illidan raised an eyebrow. "Oh, training? How about I put you through some of mine, and we'll see how you handle that."

"Ha!" Zarya leaned in close. "You do not scare me, edgeboy."

Malfurion smiled. "It seems you'd better back up your words, brother."

Illidan inwardly facepalmed for trapping himself into spending time with another living being. Hoping for a quick conversational change, he picked up the sausage again. "Let's see if it's at all edible. You there!" He pointed up the ceiling, where a jukebox and a few other things were mounted. "Tell me if it's edible!" With pinpoint accuracy, he threw the sausage like a shuriken.

Lucio's attention was drawn away from his cereal, and before he could stop himself he blurted out "Yeet!" And then looked around embarrassed, hoping nobody else recognised the seventy year-old meme.

There was a lunging flash of green on top of the jukebox, followed by a call of "Eatable!"

Illidan nodded. "Well, further confirmation Brightwing's got the lowest standards for food here. Come to the training bay the moment you've eaten, brash woman." He glared at Zarya through his blindfold, the russian tank completely impervious to his intimidation.

* * *

Cassia weighed up the hammer Uther had passed her. "I'm positively amazed you don't have back problems. Just because men have more muscle naturally is no excuse to just mindlessly slug around a weapon like this!"

"It's a time-honoured weapon. Easy to forge, easy to enchant, and with the correct application it can be a good defensive tool as well as offensive." Reasoned Uther. "If I were to parry your spear, then there's a good chance I could make the tip snap."

"But it lacks speed. Damage can be mitigated very easily without the speed to find its mark." Cassia gave it an experimental swing.

Uther shook his head. "Believe it or not, I have slowed down considerably in my older years. It is why I prefer to provide blessings and support."

"Ah. Now that is the area of your fighting I'm curious about. I can call on the heavens for aid too, but you do so with incredible frequency and strength." Cassia passed back Uther's hammer.

"Devotion to the light. I serve them, and they in turn repay me." Uther accepted his weapon, and leaned on it. "I would very much like to introduce you to the faith, but it's clear to me that the higher powers are different in your world."

"It seems so. Perhaps we can regale each other with our ancient legends and teachings later, as we have the time to practice now." Cassia rose up, and drew her javelin.

"A most agreeable decision. Now, let's see if I can get these old bones through an Amazon training session." Uther picked up his hammer.

"Oh no you don't." Cassia took a second javelin off her back. "You can't practice fending with a _hammer."_ She clicked it together and passed it to Uther. "Now, follow me. We'll start with basic warm-ups, and then move onto combat moves."

Two hours later, Uther was soaked in sweat, and feeling a bit weak at the knees, but otherwise was still standing strong. Basic polearms were something he'd learned as a formality when he was a paladin, but amazon techniques made them look like a child's game. He could fend at a reasonable rate, and his throwing arm wasn't abysmal, but he was very clearly showing his age and lack of expertise in the weapon compared to his training partner.

Cassia finished a twirl of her weapon, and tapped the end on the floor. "Not bad. Most men at least complain. Would you like to take a break?"

"Please." Uther sat on the floor. "You've trained other men..? I thought the amazons were all-female?"

"Oh, we are mostly. But I've been to a lot of places. Met a lot of people. There aren't many with spirit like you. Although I still wouldn't consider you good enough to join the Amazons." Cassia went up to the water fountain in the corner, and filled up a plastic cup like she'd seen some others doing.

"I truthfully believed there were simply no members of the opposite sex among your kind." Said Uther.

"Oh, I can count them on both hands. We don't make exceptions often. And for good reason, have you seen some of the decisions you people make when the girls step out?"

"All too well. Although I had no small part in that incident."

"Oh. Something personal. Apologies." Cassia said shortly.

Uther got up, and leaned on his hammer again. "It's no secret, I'll tell you. It was my greatest mistake. The crown prince was travelling with me, and we learned that the grain being supplied to a city was cursed to turn the people into rabid undead. I and the prince's fiancee were convinced that we could manage to find a cure or a way to halt the outbreak, but the prince decreed that we purge the city of life."

"...A hard choice."

"If I'd been just a little more tactful, I could have stopped things escalating long enough for her to talk him down, but I got defensive. He dismissed me from service and his fiancee left him in shock. He went on to follow a dark, dark path... I can only wonder how things would be different."

"A tragedy. How did the woman fare?"

"She's still haunted at times. But I would say that she's a person you would get along with very well. I could introduce you if you'd like."

"Please do."

* * *

Morales rounded the corner to the corridor with her suit on, running at full speed. She shoved Gul'dan himself out of the way with a shout of "Medical emergency!"

She threw a door open, arriving at the scene she'd been called to.

Sgt. Hammer was putting Kael'thas into the recovery position while Li Li stood to one side sheepishly.

"Alabama, what's the situation?" Said Morales, prepping the healing beam for a dozen types of potential injuries.

Hammer snickered, then tried to stop herself. "Alcohol poisoning." She tried to hold herself back. "I know he could die! That's why I called ya! But he got laid out by a cute little panda!"

Li Li stared at her feet. "Um, sorry."

A mix of emotions went through Morales. About a dozen different thoughts vying for her attention. _Li Li is like, eleven. Kael'thas is old and aristocratic enough to handle alcohol. Someone played a drinking game with an eleven year old. The eleven year old won the drinking game. It's nine in the morning. This corridor is ten minutes away from the bar and away from the bedrooms. Oh god pandas are adorable. Has this flamey prick thrown up somewhere, because that's a biohazard. Why do I feel this craziness is going to be the new norm._

"Ah." Summarised Morales. "I'll get him to the medbay. Li Li, you can come with me for the mouth swab, I need to do everyone else today. Alabama, if you would?"

Hammer didn't react for a second, then went to pick up Kael'thas. "Y'know, I think you're the only person that even KNOWS my name, let alone uses it! Just stick to Bama, ok? Now, one-two-three, hup!"

They picked Kael off the floor, and marched off down the corridor with him, Li Li following. It took a while to reach the medbay. Li Li raised a hand. "Hey, I have a question."

"Go on!" Said Morales slightly too enthusiastically.

"Uh, I kind of don't know where to practice kicks and stuff around here."

Morales looked at Li Li's legs, wondering how exactly she was going to kick anything apart from the shins. Another part of her jumped and wanted to pick the girl up like a stuffed toy. "There's a reinforced hangar that we've authorised the use of magic and weapons in, within reason. Supervision is in force at all times of day, so if someone tells you to stop something then listen. I'll show you where once I've made sure this man will be alright."

"Thanks."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Said Morales hopefully. "I could show you around, if you need?"

"Uh, not really. I like exploring the ship, it's an adventure like no other." Li Li said proudly.

"Oh. Okay." Morales nervously bit her lip, and then scolded herself for not taking proper care of her lip. She took a deep breath, and steeled her nerves. "Would... you... like to..." She ran through her options. _Watch an operation? Discuss pandas? Talk about wars? Help me keep the ship clean?_ "Hang out... um, sometime?"

"Oh, sure!" Li Li said brightly.

Morales took one hand off Kael'thas to do a small, victorious fist pump.

* * *

Matt looked over the reports his men had compiled, while Cook tutored Mira in her newfound superpowers. The repairs were coming out at a projected time of two weeks, assuming everything went to plan. Raynor was holding a video call with Artanis on the main screen.

"Hey Matt, how long will it take us to fix the ship up? Do we need to land?" Raynor swiveled on the chair, keeping an eye on Mira just in case she fiddled with something on the bridge.

"Two weeks, we can stay in orbit. Scheduled supply run is in thirty-four days." Matt said. "Uh, Adjutant, record that."

"Acknowledged."

Artanis had a commanding presence, even through a screen on a vessel he didn't own. "Tassadar is returning at first convenience. I'm bringing a fresh contingent of warriors out of their stasis, and they too will be at our joint disposal to deal with this new threat."

"Thanks, Artanis. Looks like now's the time to cook up some plans then." Raynor brought up some files on the holographic display. "I had Tychus trying to find out where Kerrigan was, but we've lost contact. I'm thinking I should use a homing beacon to find him, since we really need to be ready for Kerrigan to press the attack."

"Otherwise, we need to find Kerrigan and stop her. You mentioned her motives in passing, but- you didn't seem sure of them."

"I'm not." Answered Raynor. "According to this man she sent called Stukov, she wants to get a singularity to try and find a way home. Apparently we were fighting some kind of war, but... the last I knew of Kerrigan before I came here was that she'd killed off her most trusted Cerebrate."

"It is a difference between our times." Artanis said sagely. "You already know the basic details, but maybe it would be useful to learn more. Alas, I suspect that this Kerrigan is from a future further than mine. The last thing I know was that I brought this ship into orbit... yet..." He reached behind himself, and took hold of the thick bundle of nerve cords, holding them in front of the screen. "These cords were lost hours before I escaped the planet's surface with this ship. I suspect it to be some kind of distortion in time, but my memories are intact... I hope."

"Sorry I can't help confirm anything. But what about Kerrigan? What exactly do we know about her?"

Artanis looked down. "I do not know. Some say she seemed to be undergoing a postive personality change, changing her goals to simple, clean-cut revenge, but she had disappeared for months after she slew Mengsk."

"Slew Mengsk..." Raynor murmured. "Well, can't say I'm disappointed with that. How did Korhal end up?"

"She went out of her way to minimise casualties, as much as one can when unleashing the zerg. But by all accounts, that is because you asked her to."

"Hm. Damn, Kerrigan's still as tricky as ever." Raynor looked up. "What plans do you have in mind, Artanis? I'll ask Matt, and maybe get Mira's opinion too."

"We could potentially press the attack and try to subdue her. It's a gamble I am not fond of, since she may have reserve forces, but left alone, the zerg can quickly grow out of control."

Raynor nodded. "I'm thinking we could try and talk things out over a long distance, but regardless of that we need to get ready for war. Even if we know her objective, we don't really have a win condition outside of killing her or pacifying her... and both are going to be tough."

Mira walked up. "She wants a singularity to get us all home, eh?" She'd listened to the whole conversation. "Well, I managed to call a bunch of heroes here without any problems, but these singularities don't come with instructions. I have no idea how to even choose where I open a portal to. Bighead." She clucked disapprovingly.

"Mira, I wasn't done with my lecture." Cook seemed frazzled, after spending a full day in contact with Mira Han.

"Lectures require alcohol or outher drugs to numb the boredom, and other drugs are in short supply."

"You don't have a drug problem?!" Matthew shot up from his chair, clutching his papers.

Mira grinned. "Aw, how sweet of you to care! I use a stimpack from time to time. No crappy street drugs, those are only for selling. Although I wouldn't mind giving this 'Terrazine' I've heard about a try."

Matt sighed, and sat down. "Okay, okay. For the record, if you can get terrazine then it sells for more than you would want to give up."

"How well you know me~"

* * *

Lucio looked at the daily chore roster that had been posted. "Man, they have actual wizards and stuff here, and they put them on _dishwashing_?" He tapped a foot in pace with his most recent mix, offhandedly deciding what he liked and didn't like about the music. Next to him, Tyreal stood silently.

The list had very clearly been computer-generated, with a giant table of all the heroes present and a job for each day. Lucio found himself and several others were on 'equipment maintenance'. Fixing guns might have been something Zarya could do, but he only knew that if you hit the blunt end of a bullet it fired. Sonya? Ragnaros? No chance.

Tyreal studied his own task. Kitchen duties. As the archangel of justice, he was a being of incredible wisdom and intellect, capable of facing down foes that could rend the heavens asunder, and uniting angels in the name of battle, standing for what was right no matter the cost and consequence. None of that covered cooking. Angels as a race had no need for cooking. "Hm. I do not suppose you could spare me the time for some cooking lessons, mortal?"

"I don't mind. I'm not the best though." Said Lucio. "Not your strong point?"

Tyreal shook his head. "It may be a shock to you, but immortal spirits do not eat. I can enchant your very soul with blessings of the heavens, but I cannot prepare a meal."

"It's okay. You can't do much worse than the guys yesterday." Lucio bounced. "Come on, I have an hour before I need to get down to work." He clicked his heels and started skating off. The kitchens were pretty close to the main canteen.

Lúcio pushed the doors open carefully, to see only two marines inside. The armour they always wore to battle was currently off, stored elsewhere. One had a chef's hat, the corner burned off.

"Aha. You must be on duty today. Just use those cans to do whatever you can." The chef waved a hand in the general direction of a counter, with a few nondescript tin cans lying on top. He himself tended to some kind of pudding.

"Uh... isn't there like... a daily menu? No?" Lúcio asked carefully.

"Nope. Can't plan meals when you don't know what you'll have in order to work with. We just stock stuff that won't kill anyone if you don't cook it." They turned down the heat on the pan.

Lúcio just clapped his hands together. "Okay, freestyle, gotcha!" He took Tyreal's hand and went over to the counter. "Alright, time for a crash course in the basics. First, wash your hands."

"They... are not dirty?" Tyreal inspected his palms.

"Probably not. But it's just a done thing."

Tyreal took a few seconds to scrub his hands. Despite his earlier hesitance, he wasn't one to half-ass things. "It is done."

"Great. Now for some basic food rules. Number one, don't let raw meat touch anything you're not going to cook. Number two... uh... salt your pasta while it's boiling. I dunno, man. Let's see..." Lucio grabbed a few of the cans. "Alright, baked beans, canned tomatoes, kidney beans, soy beans... why are there so many beans?"

"What course of action would you propose?" Tyreal said, as if this were a war council.

"We put all the beans and tomatoes into one pot, and see if we can find some meat to throw in. Should be good!" Lucio internally had no idea if it would be good at all, or even how much they needed to make. Or even if these were in-date. But hey, optimism was a good fuel.

"I see. Perhaps you should seek out the meat that is required, whilst I... er..." Tyreal pulled out his sword. "I shall open the cans." He said confidently. He lined up the cans Lucio had grabbed, while Lucio watched in mild confusion with a nagging suspicion of what was about to occur.

He raised a hand. "You're sure this isn't going to knock them everywhere?" Images of cans being sent flying across the room did stir a certain level of humor, but at the same time the head chef over there had almost certainly killed men before.

"Watch." Tyreal held his sword steadily, and then with a gleaming flash El'Druin sliced the tops off the cans in the blink of an eye, sending them clattering aside. The cans slid along the side a little, but didn't fall over. Tyreal put his sword back by his side. "I prefer not to brag, but I am skilled with blades."

"Good job. Just tip them into a big empty pot." Lucio wandered up to the chef. "Do you have any meat we can use?"

"There's bacon in the fridge. Take more than one packet and I'll scalp you." They didn't so much as change tone.

"Okay, cool. I'll try and keep my hair on my head." Lucio pulled a huge metal fridge open, seeing it stuffed with all manner of jars and packets that looked mildly terrible. The bacon packet he grabbed felt somewhat greasy, just enough to make him really uncomfortable without making him decide that it would kill someone. "Do you know how to fry bacon?"

"No. I am aware that bacon is a meat, and that is only because I have slain Butcher demons. I pray your idea of meat is more appealing." Tyreal looked at the packet. "Well, not splattering it everywhere is a start."

"Oof. Demons, huh?" Lucio grabbed a frying pan from the side, and went over to the stove. "Okay, you put the beans and whatever on that big hob. I'll- Oh no!" In a glance, he'd seen the time on the corner of his plastic visor. "Um, I gotta go or I'll be late to my job. Counting on you, angel dude!" He skated out of the room at top speed, leaving Tyreal alone with the bacon and stew.

Tyreal looked at the packet on the table like it was a Rubik's Cube. "I won't let the mortals go hungry." He said simply. "They shan't suffer that kind of injustice."

He proceeded to stare at the pan in utter hesitation.

"How... long do I have to get this right, skilled mortal?" He asked the chef. Surely they could make do without sustenance until he could comprehend this task?

"About five hours."

"...Ah."

* * *

Greymane looked at the gauss rifle. He looked at his pistol. He looked at Kel'thuzad. It was extremely tempting to just take this... super-gun, and give it a test shot, but he wasn't sure it would be worth the ensuing danger to Varian. So he peered down the barrel. "Where does the black powder go in this? It's clearly not magic."

"We build it into our bullets." Answered Zayra, who had figured out how to disassemble and clean the rifle already, a few dirty cloths next to her alongside a protocol manual that they would be checked against later. The raiders did at least keep the weapons well cared-for. "Your technology is quite far behind ours, it seems. I'll aid you four as much as I can."

Illidan pried the casing off the gun he was cleaning successfully, an impressive feat for someone blindfolded. He then winced as he accidentally put pressure on his waist, the earlier training session of the day coming back to deliver a swift kick in the ass. His speed training outstripped Zarya, just as his awareness did.

But by the legion, why the hells was she so _STRONG?!_ Illidan had expected her to pick up the heaviest set of weights. He'd expected her to just about handle the custom weight he was training with, and then back off. So she went on to strap a bar across two Vulture bikes and deadlift them over her head. What The Hells.

Never one to be outdone, he found he was just about able to match that feat of strength. So then she added an extra ten kilos to each side of the bar, and repeated the process. Until both of them were tired out. Zarya was a bit sore and sipping a protein shake, making sure she didn't damage her back now that it was weakened just a little from the exercise. Illidan was left on the floor feeling like each of his abs had been personally curb-stomped by Sargeras, and really wished he'd used some Fel magic to buff himself up before trying to lift however much that weight had been.

"...You know, this seems like a job for the OTHER demon hunter here." He eventually said, as he delicately came to understand the gun, aware that accidentally pulling the trigger would end very badly.

"Oh, Valla. You know the woman? Please, introduce me." Said Zarya offhandedly. "I was never into medieval weaponry, but I think we'd get along nicely."

"At least she would have opposable thumbs." Said Greymane, looking at the last member of the group.

"Brightwing trying!" She protested, scrabbling with the casing. "No understand. No like. Dislike gun. Loud and hurty."

Lucio just looked at the weapon himself. "Well, we've got all day, so we should be able to get through this once we all get the hang of it, right?"

"Yes. Now let me see... Is clear now." Zarya clipped the parts back together. "Sir Greymane, come here. I will show you how to clean rifle."

"Right." Greymane brought the parts of his assigned weapon over. "The basics are there, but there's some kind of... automatic reload that doesn't use magic."

"It's a pretty simple mechanism once you boil it down. The rifle takes any kind of bullet as long as it's below about fifty caliber, so..." Zarya went on to pore over the details of the weapon with Greymane, while Illidan 'looked' on in utter confusion, Kel'thuzad looked on in utter fascination, and Brightwing grew increasingly upset that she was making absolutely no progress. Lucio just wiped at anything that was blackened with a cloth while looking out for any damage.

Kel'thuzad steepled his fingers. "Hmm... Oh, yes..."

"You'd better not be thinking what I know you're thinking." Said Greymane. He was very certain he knew what the lich was thinking, and he didn't like it.

"Too late. But look on the bright side, my dear dog- at least it gives me a greater incentive to stay alive." Kel'thuzad said smugly, many plans involving using very advanced weaponry to overpower people with less advanced weaponry running through his mind, riddled with questions like manufacture and training his skeletons how to use them properly and how to use magic to counter them if they ever were turned against him.

"Hey, do you guys want me to put some music on?" Asked Lucio.

* * *

The day went on, to the point everyone had finished up their chores and had either been training or chattering. The time for dinner approached, and the canteen filled up with heroes that were all united by one common thought:

 _Whatever higher powers there may be in the nexus, please let this taste better than breakfast._

The metal shutters on the counter rolled up slowly, and a line almost instantly formed, everyone holding a tray with high hopes and very low expectations. When they saw a magical suit of golden armour standing behind the counter holding a ladle like a weapon, those expectations were compounded. This had the potential to be literal divine cooking, or it could be something that would mercilessly strip you of your taste buds.

Still, they lined up. Tyreal took a bowl and spooned the contents into it, somehow managing to appear commanding, like he was delivering judgements from a court rather than a bean stew. Lucio came up to the counter. "Hey, how do you think it went?"

"Truthfully, I do not know. If it is awful, then I shall have to do my utmost to restore things. I couldn't bear to do an injustice to the innocent." He replied, spooning out Lucio's serving.

Lucio went on to get a small bowl of rice pudding, before sitting down. The contents of the bowl looked okay. The bacon was kind of charred. He took a small bite. It... wasn't actually that bad. There was a slight taste of carbon to the whole thing where it had probably been burnt a little, but otherwise it was decidedly food, something breakfast hadn't been able to claim.

Tyreal walked over, and sat down next to Lucio. "I would hear your thoughts. It was... difficult to work out how to proceed with such a foreign challenge. I am a little concerned that I may make an embarrassment of the High Heavens should this fail."

"It's pretty good." Said Lucio. "I'd maybe have cooked the bacon a little bit less. And hey, this was your first try." He reached over and patted Tyreal on the back, with a reassuring grin. "You could really get good at this!"

Tyreal nodded. "Your feedback is appreciated, mortal. You will have to excuse me now, as there are matters I must attend to uphold justice." He seemed to hesitate. "...People like you are why I opted to save humanity."

"Wow. I, uh, thanks." Lucio was a bit cowed, but shook it off to be happy at the praise. "It's no problem, Mr Tyreal. If you need me to come help you out again, just ask."

"I shall bear it in mind. Excuse me for now." Tyreal pushed his seat back, and floated away from the table, leaving Lucio sitting alone.

He looked around. Zarya was having an arm-wrestle with Sonya, while the table bent under the abuse. Lucio stopped to watch for a few moments, and to his surprise Zarya seemed to be winning... until Sonya put on a burst of strength and managed to force her down. Strongest woman on earth didn't quite extend to the nexus.

Greymane and Varian were chuckling about something. Lucio was curious about Varian, given Greymane's stellar opinion of him. The king seemed more like a good man than some many-faced politician. Still, his eyes drifted to one of his other working buddies from earlier. Eating, but she seemed downcast.

Artfully, he slid down the chairs. Artfully. He totally wasn't acting like a seventh-grade kid moving seats, he told himself. "Hey."

Brightwing lifted her head up. "Oh. Hello, music man." Her left antenna was a bit droopy, but otherwise she seemed normal, standing on the seat and having to bend over the plate. Goodness knows how she got it from the serving counter to the table without spilling it.

"Everything okay? I know the job earlier was kinda rough, but you did good sticking at it." Lucio reached over and patted her back.

"Thank you. Brightwing no like this place... do not belong." She looked down at the tray. "I miss forest."

"Yeah, I'd like to get home too. But I can't just abandon these guys. Anyway, you wanna chat about anything?" He laughed. "I guess I can't really discuss the football with you." He was happy to see his conversation partner perk up.

"Talk about... um, do not know. Brightwing know that human does not eat lots of things. Oh, what about... erm, speh, spay... spae..." She took a second to get the word out properly. "Space. Never knew what was above clouds."

Lucio nodded. "Well, I'm not an expert or anything, but the first thing you should know is that if you go up and away from a planet enough then you eventually get past the point where gravity is holding all the air on. That's space."

"Gravi-tree?"

"Er..." Lucio picked up his fork and dropped it on the table. "Falling power. It makes the air fall towards planets I think? I dunno, my school didn't cover more than that. But anyway, go up into space and it gets super cold and you can see pretty much forever in any direction."

"Lots of stars. Very pretty."

"Yeah, they are, right? I wish I knew more, but music is my expert field. We should go talk to Cook about it sometime."

"Brightwing not sure I would understand. But okay, sound fun!"

Lucio tapped his fingers on the table for a bit, before asking another question. "Hey, I'm going to DJ for the bar later. Maybe start a rave. You want to come?"

"Yes. Brightwing like you. New friend?"

"Sure thing."

"Yay!" Brightwing fluttered.

 **Author's notes: I'll start slowly advancing the plot next chapter. Until then, have some nice character interactions. Again, if you want to know what anyone's up to, just let me know before the next chapter's up.**


	8. Chapter 8: Stir

Kerrigan concentrated, and a mighty wave of psionic energy responded, keeping Abathur's leviathan grounded.

She'd landed her swarm on the nearest planet, a desolate world of sulfur and tin. Lovely yellow crystals coated the floor and every surface of the world, but around her area it was a sticky mess of creep and zerg blood as she tried to subjugate a quarter of her forces without destroying a leviathan or getting Abathur killed.

Abathur normally would have been expendable. A new one was made for every evolution chamber, after all. But this was THE Abathur, the one made and matured by the Overmind itself... and the only one up to Kerrigan's standards right now.

Her approach was to have either herself or Stukov focus on keeping control of the flight control nerves on Abathur's leviathan, while the rest of the zerg commanders unknowingly Role-Played a traditional Diablo game, wandering into the dungeon that was Abathur's leviathan, killing every posessed zerg sent against them and looking for 'That Bastard of a Demon'.

The efficient recycling wasn't wasting resources, but it was costing Kerrigan time that she didn't want to expend. Mira and Cook could be in another realm by now if Raynor cut ties with them.

She scowled. _What I need is a plan..._

Stukov looked out of the window of the Aleksander, before contacting Kerrigan on his normal computer. The hivemind was currently a warzone. "Containment lines are holding. I've managed to keep Diablo away from killing Abathur, but it's only a matter of time before he pushes through my mental barriers."

Kerrigan looked up at her biological screen. "I'm pretty sure we can break through in one or two more pushes, but I think we're spending too long here. It's been five days."

"We slew him to gain control once. We'll do it again." Said Stukov, the words of encouragement lacking any emotion.

Zagara joined the conversation. "Do you have any new orders, my queen?"

"...I need some time to think. You all make preparations for the next attack with Dehaka. I'm going to step out of the hivemind, prepare yourselves to take the strain. If you're getting overwhelmed, then GET ME IN." Kerrigan closed off her mind, the sudden absence of demonic energy wearing on her was an awesome relief.

She allowed herself a deep breath, and a good twenty seconds to clear her mind. She knew she wasn't the most level-headed, and that her tactics often left a lot to be desired, but when she put her mind to it... she considered herself a damn scary planner.

An accurate assessment.

* * *

Morales didn't normally do tea parties. Back on Earth, she'd been encouraged to chase glory and fame in a career path by the UED regimes, and even after she started thinking for herself her idea of a day socialising involved reading in bed.

But that was completely overwritten by the fact that she absolutely loved pandas. Which was why she was now doing her very best to dress casual.

Her normal idea of casual dress was 'anything not covered in medical fluids'. It was a demanding line of work. But, when all else fails, jeans can be relyed on to make you look decent. Add a shirt and a spot of makeup, and _hey presto-_ Instant panic at the thought she was going to screw this up.

But things seemed to be going okay, outside of the meltdown leading up to them. Rosa sat across from Li Li, and did her best to hold a conversation. "So, tell me more about the healing properties of this? Back home, the idea of repairing a wound with anything other than nanites is... unthinkable. But you clearly make it work."

"Well, if you start with a pot of traditional tea, and then you wait for it to cool a little bit, you can put it herbs and plants to your heart's content!" Said Li Li brightly, hands around her cup. "...So, what are nanites? The things on the back of your armour?"

"Nano-machines. Let's see... you have clocks in your world, right? Or even more advanced things."

"Yep."

"We use extremely tiny machines to fix damage. It's... hard to explain without the context." It was also hard to make it through this conversation without mentioning her overwhelming love of pandas.

Li Li put her cup down. "Oh, that's okay. Even if we don't understand each other's stuff, I bet we still have great stories!"

Rosa felt a bead of sweat attempting to escape the confines of her brow. She was notable for being one of the few medics that didn't have that much mental damage after having to deal with three wars that encompassed three races (four? She wasn't sure if the Hybrid counted, being bioweapons and all.) and then having to look at every injury in detail. Precisely none of the notable moments she could think of were suitable for telling to a fifteen year old. "I... Er, I don't think that I... Well, I've seen some horrible things. I don't know if I can tell you."

"Oh, don't worry. I've killed stuff too." Li Li said confidently. "I'll tell you what, I'll start! So, this one time I had to help a guy claim a magic gauntlet from one of our temples, and I ended up fighting about two dozen demons. So, we had this ancient prophecy..."

* * *

Raynor looked at the last reporting repair crew with a genuine grin. "Great job, boys. Get yourselves some rest, you've earned it." He took a sheaf of papers off one, as they all trundled off towards the nearest source of alcohol. "Matt, we're all fixed up."

Matthew took the papers and fed them to a scanner. "That's good news. We'll still need to have a specialist take a look for any damage the boys missed. Adjutant, log that and make a note."

"Affirmative."

Mira waltzed over and clapped a hand onto Matt's shoulder. "Hey there!" He smile was as wide as the data pad she was holding. "My mercs have finished fixing up those Vikings, here's the bill. And you have another round of complaints about the duties chart. Something about the cooking on Thursday and Saturday. Oh, and today! I wonder who's the bad choice?"

Matthew nodded, and internally hoped that people would understand he'd been crushed under too much paperwork to fix a roster that people could manage to follow. "I'll take care of it. How's your training been going?" He tried to keep his tone entirely professional, to avoid getting Mira excited. No such luck.

"Oh, I can do a lot more than just shoot lasers from my fingertips now!" Mira grinned. "I'm a one woman army. I should think about upping my rates, you won't find anyone else with these skills~"

The Adjutant started beeping. "Incoming transmission. Caller unknown."

"Trace caller." Said Matt.

"Beginning trace... Origin: Zerg organism. Location: Planet Y3-11."

Raynor put his hands in his pockets. "Oh, great. Guess it's time to get roped into being stabbed in the back again. Answer the call."

The screen lit up, and Kerrigan's face came through. "Jim. Just who I was hoping to see. And Matthew and Mira, too."

"Kerrigan, this better be damn good." Raynor crossed his arms. "I'm not exactly in the mood to hear you out after that stunt over Braxis. You've got a lot to answer for."

"Fenix?"

"Just get to the point."

"Okay. I did forget we're from different points in time." Kerrigan seemed to have hesitated, although the question in Matt and Raynor's minds was if that was just inserted to make them buy into her latest ploy. "But nevermind that, I've blundered."

"You? Being humble? That's a first, O queen of the universe." Mira sniped.

"Queen _bitch_ of the universe. Get it right." Kerrigan stepped aside a little, showing the view from her command room. "Anyway, I accidentally put a demon into the Hivemind. If we don't kill it, it'll take control, and believe it or not, I have been holding back a bit against you guys. Right now I only want to get us back to Koprulu."

Matthew stepped up. "What do you want us to do? I'm not going to send anyone into a situation where you could betray them, no matter how much you claim to have changed."

"Then don't. I don't need to convince you and Raynor. That sense of right and wrong will do it for me." She said with the smuggest smirk. "Mira, if you'd listen I'll give you the mission briefing."

"Why should I listen?"

"Five tonnes of minerals."

"Ten. Listening... Against my better judgement."

"I want a small strike team to get in, kill Diablo, and then get the hell out of my stuff. How you do it is up to you so long as you don't kill my Leviathan."

"Seems fishy." Mira stared down Kerrigan. "You've got an endless supply of hydralisks to throw at whatever you please. Why are we even being considered?"

"It's not endless here. I'm trying to just get back to Koprulu without leaving anything lying around for Amon to make a mess of."

"Amon?"

"You'll worry about him later." Kerrigan said dismissively. "So! Ten tonnes of minerals, and I get control of my swarm back, you probably get a chance to betray me, and then we can go back to vying for control of the gem strapped to your chest."

"Normally I'd tell you to shove it, but okay." Mira smiled warmly. "I've got just the suckers to back me up. Half the minerals in advance, then I'll get moving."

"Oh? Coming personally? More than I expected from a girl with pink hair."

"Bite me, you purple pansy." Mira grinned and bowed out.

Kerrigan nodded approvingly at Raynor. "Well, I'd say that seals our deal. Going to help or hinder her?"

Raynor was going through about six different kinds of denial. Mild denial that the deal went through so quickly. Moderate denial that it could be closed so well by calling the queen of a race a pansy. Denial that Mira was seriously going to just accept this job in front of their faces. Serious denial that Kerrigan could possibly be serious, considering Fenix and everything before him. Extra-strength denial for the fact she wanted to drag heroes from other worlds into it.

And a special, apocalypse class denial for the fact that he found himself about to say the words in his head. "I'll come with you."

"Really?" Mira raised an eyebrow.

"I've been dealing with you for long enough, Sarah. If Mira is going to be baited into some trap, you can bet I'll steer her out." Raynor said sternly.

Matthew looked like he needed a drink at the entire fallacy of a conversation, sure that there was a better thing to do than to actively resolve the problems of your enemy. "Well then... I guess I'll announce it over dinner. See who wants to join up. We'll come into your orbit tomorrow."

"Good. See you then." Kerrigan disappeared from the screen.

Matt put a hand on his head. "How did any of that conversation just happen?"

Raynor shrugged. Mira was too busy getting her shotgun.

* * *

Uther took Cassia to one of the gun decks. Whenever the ship wasn't in combat, they doubled as reasonably good observation platforms. A sea of stars was visible as far as the eye could see, planets filling out the scenery. Somebody else had already been asked to come here by Uther, and truth be told, he was nervous.

He only wanted the best for the two of them, and hoped they would leave as friends, rather than awkward strangers.

"You know, you could have simply told me who you think I should meet." Cassia brushed an errant strand of hair out of the way of her face.

Uther nodded. "I know. But I thought you would appreciate the chance to chat." He managed to get the door open, finding his way through an electronic lock with some difficulty. A lot of the heroes had taken to this technology with ease, but he couldn't understand how to make it do a damn thing. Let alone a useful thing.

It rolled open, showing a blond with an arcane manual sat on one of the swivel chairs for the guns.

Cassia just chuckled. "Is this who you wanted me to meet?"

Jaina looked up. "Oh. Hello Cassia."

"Uther's been telling me good things about you." Cassia walked over. "I'll admit, you never struck me as the type to stop a whole army dead, but I can see it now."

Uther looked between them. "It seems you know each other."

"We're roommates." Answered Jaina.

"Ah."

Cassia sat down. "Still, I am glad to know a bit more about you. It's not often you find men with spirit like his, but you should listen when you do- case in point, you're everything he says you are."

"Ha. Nice to see you with such a high opinion of a man. You two aren't dating, right?" Jaina shut her scroll and looked between them.

Uther sputtered and stepped back. "I am a paladin of the realm, not some- some- faithless... heathen!"

"I am an _amazon,_ Jaina! I would not-" Cassia's voice had a level of indignant confusion not often found.

"Relax, please, I... didn't think you'd fluster that much." Jaina put her hands in her lap. "And I would like to get to know you a little better."

"Excellent. Maybe you could tell me a little more about how you fight demons in your world. I want to bring back as much knowledge as I can, to help my people."

"Oh, of course! But I always relied on magic for things like that. The real experts in tactics would be Uther, or Varian. Anyway, I find that it's good to remember that even demons have logistics problems to a degree, so it can be a good idea to proactively take out powerful figures. Once the enemy forces are in disarray, then it's much easier to control a battle."

"Sound advice, but what about combat moves? We always favoured javelins for the mix of striking power and ranged capability, but arrows are also effective." Cassia unfolded her spear. "If my enemy was anywhere within throwing distance, I could both defend myself and fight back."

"Hmm... You've got a lot more experience than me, but have you considered learning basic magics apart from lightning? I've seen your thunder spells, and they're quite impressive compared to our schools of Arcane, Fire and Frost."

"We have more elements beyond those three. Although perhaps we could refine what's available to us by comparison..." Cassia mused.

Uther just looked on proudly. "I'm glad to see you two get along so well. I shall leave you be for now. Jaina, you needn't worry about Arthas or his lackey- I shall watch them in your place for the time being."

Jaina put a hand over her heart at the prospect of extra free time. "That's very kind of you. I'll be sure to return the favour."

* * *

Lucio and Tyreal looked up at the duty rota. "Ooh, looking a bit questionable today, Ty." Lucio tapped his foot, scanning the list. "Sure hope Malfurion's not too upset at needing to do tech work."

Tyreal floated there, judging objectively. "It is a fair system, even if a lot of these placements are questionable. Is there anything you think we should intervene with?"

Tyreal had taken a shine to Lucio's method of approach. The help he'd received on the first day had taught him just how much of a difference thirty minutes' explanation could make to someone's capability to perform a task. He held justice dearly, and in turn wanted to be sure everyone could do the duty assigned to them. Among the angels, they all already shared a lot of knowledge, and realising that others would struggle with tasks that the ship's crew would consider basic had awakened a desire to ensure everyone was acommodated for.

"Well, looks like you need to go help out with the vehicle inspections soon. Let's see who could use a hand here..." Lucio put a hand on his chin. "Hmm... Malfurion, or... Ohh-kay. The person on cooking duty doesn't have any hands."

Tyreal looked. Brightwing had rotated around to being the designated cook. That did seem less than ideal. "Worry not, mortal. I shall attend Malfurion, while you stage an intervention in the kitchens. By working together, we can ensure nobody is treated unjustly."

"Ay, you're the best. Let's roll, we got half an hour." Lucio held up a fist. "Fist bump, for luck?"

Tyreal solemnly raised a fist. "Very well." He bumped. "Let us proceed."

Lucio skated off for the kitchens, leaving Tyreal to make sure Malfurion didn't end up too upset. The first indication he had that something had gone wrong was the pool of red liquid seeping out from under the door. He skidded to a halt. _Blood? No, that's a seed in there..._

He knelt and looked closely. This was tomato juice. He looked up to the doors fearfully, remembering that the head chef in there had the personality of a brick wall. He stood up, and pulled the door open.

The head chef was nowhere to be seen. Brightwing was nowhere to be seen. There was a big carton of chopped tomatoes splattered across the entire floor, with a large bite taken out of one side. The desserts that the chef normally tended to had been knocked askew by something, and a broom was broken in half next to a couple of feathers.

"Uh... guys..?" Lucio said cautiously. He took a step forwards, wary of slipping on the sea of vegetable.

He could have sworn he heard a faint clucking from one of the cupboards. His eyes went back to the feathers. He took one more step, to inspect them and with a CRASH, the giant pot that was normally used to cook rice pudding had it's lid thrown off, falling over forwards as a flash of green sprang out. Lucio had just enough time to yelp and try to get out of the way before Brightwing bowled him over, and they both went down into the red.

"Got you, I got you juicy Chicke- oh, hello friend!"

Lucio blinked once in shock as he lay on his side, tomato stains creeping over everthing he was wearing. Brightwing pressed her nose against his and blinked back, before licking her lips.

"Ooh, if you were baddy now, you'd be dead-y." She whispered cheerfully. "Like chicken!"

Lucio got himself off the floor very quickly and scrambled back, bringing up a nervous chuckle in defence. "Uh... hey. Something happen with the cooking?"

"Well, Brightwing try to make thing with berries, since know they are food. Couldn't get open, so Brightwing bit it. Went everywhere, I have not seen that much blood, ever! And then Chicken got angry and tried to fight me with stick, so Brightwing bit it in half, and turned Chicken into a chicken! But I did not manage to eat him, and he got into that hidey-hole. Was waiting for him in there." She looked over at the giant metal pot.

Lucio bit his lip, and tried extremely hard to avoid thinking about the level of 'possible death' he'd just brushed with. "Rrright. You, uh, need a hand with this whole cooking thing then?" It was harder to be casual while covered in tomatoes.

"Don't wanna. Feel bitey. No like Chicken."

"C'mon, don't be like that. I'll help smooth things out. You need a hand wiping those tomatoes off yourself? Maybe something to calm you down a bit?" Lucio leaned on the counter.

"Hrmmmph."

"Here, I _will_ help you." Offered Lucio, conscious that he was expected to go and deal with other things shortly. Well, mabe if he just rushed after handling this... "It'll be a bit, uh, more fun if I help. Come up here, I'll get the juice off you." He grabbed the room's only visible towel, used for drying dishes.

Brightwing scrambled up onto the counter, splattering more tomato juice everywhere. And then spread her wings, letting an extra few splotches land over the entirety of the counter. "Did wonder what bath of blood would be like! Don't like. Gets cold."

Lucio just started wiping her down gently, doing his best to keep everyone happy, as always. Part of his mind wandered to his early days of making people rise against Vishkar, and how this was definitely not something he thought that would have led to. The towel was ruined pretty quickly, but with a quick rinse in the sink and a twist he could cleanse it of about 90% of the juice. It took a few repetitions, but eventually he was left with a faerie dragon on his counter, rather than a ketchup swamp monster. "There we go, all cleaned up. Now we just gotta get the floor cleared and... er, you turned the chef into a chicken, right? Let's get him back to normal."

"No. He is a meanie. Bad. No."

Lucio leaned down. "What'd he do to you?"

"Went shouting 'Shoo'! With stick."

"After the sauce, right?"

"Yes-yes. So turn him into chicken! And break stick." The brush appeared to have been snapped in half with pure force, somehow.

Lucio smiled and crossed his arms. "Well, then I'll just have to convince you." He reached over, and behind her head. And gently started petting her. "You like that?"

"Hm."

"C'mon, cheer up, grumpy." He teased.

"Brightwing not grumpy!"

"Grumpy-wumpy-grumpy."

"..." Her denial withered as Lucio finally managed to work out an effective method of petting, and she relaxed a little. "...Not now. Brightwing like you, friend." The somewhat irritated demeanor had broken, and her normal happy-go-stabby self returned.

Lucio just smiled. "When you turn him back, I'll make sure he doesn't try to shoo you again, and then we can get on with the cooking. Cool?"

"Yes, friend."

"Great, then I'll get the mop and clean this floor up. You make sure nobody falls over on this tomato, ok?"

"Yep!"

Cleaning was an arduous task, if only because there was so much chopped tomato on the floor. Lucio had debated getting the vacuum cleaner, but that would have required knowing where the vacuum was. Brightwing was sent on an epic quest to find a roll of duct tape for the broom, and then managed to actually tape it back together with an hour. After two hours, the floor was cleaned, and they were back to square one with the cooking.

Better than square minus three, where they'd been before.

There was another faint clucking from the back of one of th cupboards. Lucio opened the door and peered in. "Alright, I'll get you back to normal, just come on out."

The angriest-looking chicken Lucio had ever seen waddled out of the depths of the cupboard, giving him a stinkeye.

"Hey, don't you give me that look. I'm the one who convinced her to let you go."

Brightwing leaned over the top of the counter and very deliberately licked her lips where Chef Chicken could see her. It took a step back towards the cupboard, and then with a puff of magic was replaced by the normal chef, now with his behind stuck in the cupboard thanks to that step back.

Lucio reached down and pulled him up. "There we are, still got all your bits? Leave her to me, okay."

The Chef huffed. "Boy, you are gonna get your ass busted for missing duties." He noticed Brightwing on the counter unfurl her wings and look straight at him, charged with magic. "So, uh... thanks for getting it busted for me. Let's get this dinner going."

"Ay, no problem. Just shout if I can lend a hand." Lucio said confidently, before turning back to the counter. "Okay then, let's get cooking!"

* * *

Everyone's dinner expectation had ranged from an optimistic 'fresh fruit and veg' to more realistic 'find your own' for the day. There was a general agreement that Chili con carne was not anywhere on the spectrum of possibilities.

Lucio ended up helping with the serving, too, answering everyone's question of _how._

And his home cooking was actually pretty good. Music and the people and technology behind it was his specialty, but he mentally gave a quick thanks to his mom for insisting he learn how to prepare food. Mixed with the nagging concern that he was about to get punished for missing out on the cleaning job.

Once the counter had cleared, he finally took some pasta and chili and went over to sit with Tyreal.

"An excellent job, Lucio." Tyreal watched over the room, no food in front of him.

Lucio grinned and leaned back a bit. "Always glad to help. Just hope the higher-ups aren't too upset."

Tyreal nodded. "I am sure that most people will vouch for your integrity, even if you violated the order of their systems."

"Ah, order. It's not a bad thing, but some people really overdo it."

"From order comes justice. Many live by that." Said Tyreal calmly. "I would trust you to be capable of judging how much is too much."

"Really? I dunno, politics and stuff were never my forte." Lucio was about to finish his plate, when the doors to the room opened, and three people strode in.

Matthew held a microphone, and gave it a few taps. "Everyone, excuse me." It took a little while, but attention turned to Matt, and Raynor and Mira behind him. "I have some updates on the state of things, if you'd listen. Regarding the zerg, it looks like their intent was to try and assimilate demons. In turn, that got their hivemind posessed to a degree, and they are now in an internal power struggle."

"It's bad enough that Kerrigan contacted us for help. We know she's not trustworthy, but we can't afford to have the demons take control of a force as powerful as the swarm so we have to move anyway." Added Raynor. "I'm sure those of you with experience will understand the demons don't need to be more dangerous either."

"So, I'll be leading in a strike force with four or five or you, and we'll hopefully get to do somecollateral damage and get out alive. Any volunteers?" Mira finished.

All the Nephalem immediately stood up. Tyreal also got up, and Lucio followed without hesitation. Around the room, many more got out of thier chairs.

Morales raised a hand. "...Are you sure you can do this without getting us outmanouvered? I don't think there's any doubt that Kerrigan will turn on us, even if we DON'T try and wreck her stuff."

"In and out before she can bat an eyelid. It would take some serious pre-planning to catch us." Mira said confidently.

Raynor looked at the gradually raising level of confidence. "I'm on board, if it makes any difference to you folks. We just want a good strong team to knock 'em back to hell."

Mira put a hand on her chin. "I can put together a squad from this. Anyone I don't pick- nothing personal. So... I'll take Valla, Jo-jo," She pointed at Johanna, moving on to her next victim. "...Lucio, Muradin, and... oh, how about you, Raynor. That's team one. And... the rest of you Nephalem are plenty good at your jobs. Come on down to the bridge with me, I'll deal you in."

Matthew saw the rest of the heroes sit down, although a lot still looked tense. "Now, the fact you're all so willing to help is appreciated. It's likely we'll see a few more battles before we can get Kerrigan under control, so please just keep training and don't do anything rash. That'll be everything. Have a good evening."

Lucio sat back into his seat. "I... didn't think that through." He got out, about to follow Mira with the rest of her chosen team.

"It was brave, nonetheless. Blessings on you, Lucio." Said Tyreal. "I hope I will see you again."

 **Author's Notes: Lucio is the kind of person who has so much charisma that he could move heaven and earth by asking nicely. And the plot is rolling again, so I hope you'll look forwards to the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9: Betrayal

Mira, Lucio, Valla, Johanna, Raynor and Muradin were gathered around the biggest table in the bridge. Mira hefted a big crate onto the middle of the table, and set it down with a thud. Inside were numerous explosives. "So. Here's the plan. Kerrigan has to play nice until we solve her problem, we don't. In this crate is thirty kilos of various plastic explosives laced with poisons, that are outlawed in four systems. Nothing that can take out a leviathan, but if placed correctly we can cripple it for a day or four."

"Okay. How are we getting these past Sarah?" Raynor looked at the bombs, apparently not concerned about where Mira got them, or that they were on the bridge of his ship, where he also was.

Mira smirked, and clicked her fingers. The gem set into her chest glowed, and the explosives evaporated into blue triangles. "By putting them in a pocket dimension, of course. Now, you five are going to go kill the lord of terror, I'll find the command centre of the Leviathan and set those bad boys off."

"Escape plan." Prompted Lucio, looking at Mira. He still remembered about a week ago, when he caught her about to skip out with her newfound powers.

"I can open a portal for myself. However, you five would need a second portal to escape. So, may I introduce my lovely assistant, Doctor Cook!" Mira stepped aside and threw her hands towards the awkward scientist.

He nervously raised a hand, and hurriedly slipped a data pad into his pocket. "I-I'll create an escape route for you, that'll bring you back to the hangar here. We'll have some men ready to take care of any zerg that come through with you."

Johanna decided to say something. "...Okay, then let's talk combat tactics. All the important roles are taken care of." She seemed to weigh up all the individual members. "What kind of layout should I expect? It matters for our formation."

"Corridors." Answered Raynor. "We'll be fighting onboard a leviathan, the largest standard zerg vessel by a long shot. They use small-ish corridors to connect chambers, but I think they can widen to let through extra troops. Actually, maybe Kerrigan would be kind enough to change it to whatever benefits you?"

Johanna nodded, and studied the group again. "Mira, remind me what kind of weapon you use?"

"Shotgun. Fires a nice cluster of pellets in a cone, punches through most things within ten metres." Answered Mira. "That, and I may also use my shiny new singularity to evaporate any zerg that come my way." She tapped it, and it glowed for a moment in affirmation. "But don't forget, I'm going solo to blow up the nerve centre."

"I warn you, that's risky... but it's your life. Not mine. Well, I'd say that if we use me and Valla to push forwards, and keep Muradin and Raynor bringing up the rear, then Lucio in the centre. If the landscape is corridors, then while it's easy to keep the durable people in the line of fire, we could easily be prone to getting completely surrounded, so protecting our back is vital. Your analysis, Mira?"

"Agreed, but you might want to have Raynor cover your back, and Valla on Lucio's. I've seen you Nephalem are good against the demons, it's why I picked you even if we're against the zerg." Explained Mira, before leaning in. "That, and I'm always a sucker for ladies in armour."

"Want to go for a drink once this is done?" Offered Johanna.

"Well, of course!" Said Muradin.

"Oh, she knows me!" Mira beamed. "Anyways, that's the gist of it. Don't think we can plan more, because a complex plan would fall to bits when the zerg got hold of it. Any questions?"

"Aye." Muradin put his hands on his hips. "This 'Kerrigan' I keep hearing about might send someone to keep an eye on us. All well and good when we're fighting, but it might get hairy when we need to leave. Kill 'em or make up an excuse?"

"Kill them." Said Raynor. "If we can take out someone important, then that makes wrapping this thing up much less difficult."

"O-oh, that reminds me!" Cook came forwards. "I was sent a message from one Alexei Stukov a few minutes ago, and I was supposed to take it to you, Valla."

"Me?" A dozen questions went through her head. "...Didn't I kill him?"

"He says thanks for the arrow." Cook said nervously.

"Ah. One of those types."

No more questions seemed to be forthcoming, so Raynor finished the briefing.

"We'll be there in five hours, and we'll launch for the mission once we've spent four in orbit. That's so you can all get rested for this, and prepared. After gear checks, then I want you awake for 0600, ship time. Set alarms." Said Raynor. "Okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

Lucio skated along the corridors slowly, going back to his room. It was going to be tough tomorrow, no doubt about it. His mind was occupied with worries that his sonic tech might not be able to keep everyone alive, or that he might fail in some other way. He almost didn't notice the three people outside his room.

Tyreal held a hand up. "Lucio. I see that you are steeling your heart for the battle to come."

"Oh, hey there Ty. Yeah, I gotta get ready. Can't lose my beat when people are counting on it to stay alive." He looked, and saw Brightwing and Zarya next to Tyreal. "Hey guys. Wish me luck?"

"That is what we are here for." Said Zarya. "Would offer you particle cannon, but that would also crush you. So. удачи. Good luck."

Brightwing glided in a circle around Lucio. "Brightwing only know you for small time, but I like you, friend! I will keep you safe, friend. Do not worry."

Tyreal nodded once. "If there is anything you feel will improve your capabilities for tomorrow, you need only ask. You are an extremely respected man."

A warm, genuine smile spread on Lucio's face. He put a hand over his heart. "Man, you guys... feels good to know I got buddies like you. I'll catch you all when it's done. Promise."

"Then I shall leave you to rest for now." Tyreal said, before guiding away the other two heroes, leaving Lucio to go to his bed.

Lucio slept fitfully. It was hard not to be nervous, knowing that tomorrow would be life-and-death. But at the same time, he'd been a fighter long enough to know and love his sleep. By the time the rest of his roommates appeared, he was soundly unconscious.

Dreams flitted through his mind. An unshakable feeling of dread, horror at nothingness, before calming down to a nonsensical conversation.

It seemed as if no time at all had passed before Lucio got up, minutes before his alarm was due. The mixture of fear and anticipation remained, but he got up without hesitation, strapping on his leg armour and his technology.

"Be back soon." He whispered to the rest of the room, not seeing Tyreal anywhere.

* * *

He felt too nervous for breakfast, but ended up grabbing a pre-made sandwich anyway. He'd made sure plenty of other people had the meals they needed, and he wasn't about to be a hypocrite.

The sandwich tasted like sawdust.

And Lucio found his way to the hangar. Mira was already waiting with the dropship, and Raynor and Muradin were here before him.

"Hey kid." Raynor offered. "Feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Nothing worse than normal."

"Zerg can be nasty critters. Don't blame you if you're afraid."

"Don't worry. I've handled worse without falling apart... but thanks for looking out for me, yeah?" Lucio felt his worries start to slip away a bit once he started talking to people. "Muradin, you alright?"

Muradin just laughed. "Never better! I'll show 'em they picked the right dwarf for the job!" He grabbed his hammer from the floor, and then the axe. "And here's the last two!"

The door opened, and Johanna strode through, with Valla close behind. "We're ready to move out." She said shortly, armour pristine and shield polished. "Is everything in order?"

Raynor nodded. "All kitted out. You folks know how to strap yourselves into one of these?" He gestured to a small ship. It was extremely similar to his personal Raider, but since the intent was to ditch it then an old, clapped-out one had been selected for sacrifice. 'Nameless' was stencilled into the side in white paint, along with a selection of paint scratches and burns from use around the engines.

"We do." Confirmed Valla. "Let's not waste any time."

Mira checked her radio. "Cook, you awake? Yes? Good. All aboard!" She opened the door, and clambered into the back of the ship. Everyone else followed, while Raynor got into the cockpit.

On the bridge, Matt got the signal and opened the hangar doors. With a buzz, the engines started and the Nameless lifted off into the void of space. Lucio looked around the dark back of the ship. "Mira, when are you going to split off?"

"Maybe halfway through. Hey, you're a musician- put something on. Riding in the back of these dingy things is bad enough without the silence."

"Oh, sure thing! Let's see..." Lucio brought up his gun, and started flicking through his playlist. "You want something classic? Modern? Fast, slow... oh, this should be just the jam." He gave a click, and The Final Countdown started playing.

"Hey, not bad." Mira leaned in. "Must be from before the UED took over earth, I heard Venus mentioned."

"UED?"

"Don't worry about them right now. We've got bigger problems." Mira leaned back, and flicked a speck of dirt off her shoulder. "Ray, ETA?"

 _Estimated Time of Arrival._ Lucio reminded himself.

"Dropping in twenty. Kerrigan will have a lieutenant waiting for us on the surface to clear the path in." Raynor leaned back, one hand on the wheel. "If anyone wants an in-flight meal, there's some dirt on the floor."

The attempt at humor got a reasonable chuckle out of Muradin. "Oh, don't tempt me, lad! That's world-class cooking after wednesday!"

Lucio smiled. "Tsk, Gul'dan's cooking wasn't THAT bad! The evil magic grows character! And also horns." Gul'dan had been one of the selected cooks, and Lucio hadn't intervened on that day. Subsequently, everyone ended up getting served something that might once have been food, but was afflicted so badly with fel magic that they'd been hesitant to throw it away, for fear of killing the bin.

Valla fixed her crossbows. "Ready yourselves. Once we're outside this ship, then we cannot show weakness."

"It's all in good intention." Johanna said gently. "Even the most skilled warrior would be reduced to nothing if they panicked."

* * *

The engines could suddenly be heard as the ship entered the atmosphere. "Alright, we got a nasty atmosphere out there." Warned Raynor. "You guys, don't head outside until Mira uses her gem powers to give you protection, or your lungs'll melt."

They landed, and there was a hiss from the engines as they vented heat. Mira unbuckled herself, and tapped at the singularity on her chest. It lit up, and then a soft blue light spread through the room. "Aaand... done. You'll have a bubble of breathable air around you so long as I don't die."

"Opening doors. Keep tight, don't die." Instructed Raynor.

Lucio moved a hand to shield his eyes as the back of the ship opened up again, showing off the vast plains of yellow crystals. A sulfurous wind blew a yellow dust at them, and he saw it parted away from him and the other five people.

Johanna stepped out first, and then Raynor disembarked and came around the side. Lucio got into the middle, and everyone else brought up the back.

Outside was a truly alien scene, as three leviathans and one infested battlecruiser surrounded a fourth leviathan. They were in the middle of it all, just outside an eerily neat ring of clashing zerg, one lot fighting to escape, the other halting them.

"Right on time." Announced a voice. Lucio put a hand over his headphones, sure it had come from within, but then he saw the speaking man walk up calmly, unaffected by the lethal environment. "Stukov, at your service. Mira, the minerals have been delivered as requested."

"Ah, excellent." Mira clapped her hands together. "So, shall we?"

"Follow me." Stukov turned and marched for the battle lines. "And by the way... good shot earlier, you." He glanced back to Valla. "I very nearly managed to die."

"I'll have to try a little harder next time." Valla had her bows primed, always on guard.

"Okay. Just go on in, you can find your target easily enough." Stukov said, before reaching up and bringing a hand down in one gigantic slam. It extended as it fell, and turned a few misfortunate zerg into pancakes. Some more that were under control of Kerrigan stopped the gap from being plugged. Stukov stood aside and saluted.

"...Going in." Said Raynor. Johanna put up her shield and marched forwards, up towards the leviathan, as Raynor trained his gun on anything that moved to stop them and blasted it to a thin purple paste.

Stukov watched them go, and tapped into the hivemind. "Everything proceeding as planned, Kerrigan."

'Good. I'll head out now.'

As Kerrigan stepped out of the conversation, the crystalline floor underneath Stukov cracked, and was then pushed away as Dehaka climbed out from the rock and stone below.

"Ready, to pursue. No, escape."

Stukov nodded, as a contingent of the pack emerged from hiding below the ground with their leader. "Don't go in too soon. Kerrigan will be there as soon as she finishes with her own dealings."

"I, understand."

* * *

It was a hard push. Lucio's tech was working overtime to stop the team getting crushed by the constant zerg attacks, although Johanna was certainly pulling her weight. Demonic energy empowered their enemy, and in turn the nephalem gained might.

The corridors were too narrow for Ultralisks to go through at the moment, although there were undoubtedly some stored on board this ship.

"Going solo now!" Announced Mira. "See you in a moment!" She broke away as the path diverged, leaving the rest of the group.

Johanna slammed away a hydralisk like it was nothing more than a common bug, crushing it against the wall. Her shield was covered with dents and acid, and if not for her awesome skill she'd have buckled and broken under the assault. A spine hit her chest and fell away, failing to pierce her holy vestments. The damage slowly began to fix itself thanks to Lucio, while Raynor never stopped firing once.

It seemed to never end.

* * *

A second shuttle had left the hangar mere moments after the first, before the doors could be closed. Any internal trackers had been disconnected yesterday, and it wouldn't be spotted by anybody who was checking the outside cameras or windows as nexus energies wrapped around the hull, masking it from all detection.

Once it was a few kilometres away from the Hyperion, and further still from the Spear of Adun, it stopped, and decloaked.

A single infested ship rose up from the planet. In a matter of moments, the two were next to each other. With a wave of blue energy, air bridged the gap between them.

Kerrigan opened up the door to the ship, talking to her pilot. "You know, I like you better when you're bound to my will, Tychus. Maybe I won't kill you after this is done."

The back of the shuttle opened, and a single nervous scientist stepped out. "I... I've upheld my end of the bargain, Kerrigan."

Kerrigan turned her full attention to Doctor Cook. "Bargain? What bargain?" She smirked. "Ah yes, spying for me in exchange for your realm back."

Cook trembled. "What's done is done..."

"You did the right thing." Said Kerrigan simply. "If I fail to return to Koprulu, Amon will destroy all life in my universe. It was very noble to choose the big picture..."

It happened in the blink of an eye. Cook's first indication Kerrigan was attacking was when she put a wing right through his heart, putting it far beyond repair.

"I'm just surprised someone so short-sighted could see it." She whispered. She floated over to the dying lord, and grabbed the gem on his tie. As his life force faded, it came loose, growing in size, until she had in her grasp a metal shell that contained a small blue gem. Even now, Kerrigan's broods worked to turn Braxis Holdout into a mighty stronghold, and she knew this gem would respond to her in kind.

She grasped the metal, and it vanished. With a crackle and a flurry of power, Kerrigan became the Lord of Braxis, the singularity molding itself into a pendant around her neck, attuning to her very being. She kicked away Cook's body, and jumped back to her ship.

"Tychus, take me down to the surface. I've got some plans to ruin."

* * *

Valla fired a multi-shot, and looked back. "We're close to Diablo."

Muradin axed a roach, and then had to bear the brunt of a zergling assault. His armour was ruined, but his beard and skin was oddly okay, as if they were tougher than metal. "I hope so, lass! These things are getting a bit samey!"

Johanna cleared out the incoming wave, and took a second to breathe. "So, when we found Diablo missing after hunting him down before... it was here he was taken."

"If we engage now, do you think we would be flanked?" Asked Valla.

"...Not if we're quick. Diablo is an enormously strong foe, but should we concentrate our attacks then we ought to be able to slay him thanks to our numbers advantage." Reasoned Johanna. She picked herself up and shed any hint of weariness, leaving only a resolute, sturdy crusader. "Make ready, we march on Diablo!"

Raynor slammed another clip into his gun, while Lucio kept his Crossfade set to 'heal'. In the middle of battle, his fears and reservations were reduced to nothing, as he rode on the rush of the combat, adrenaline holding him alert. He brought up his gun and a soundwave sent a few zerglings flying away, to be picked off by Valla.

Strangely, he found fighting these zerg _easier_ than fighting people. True, the zerg had the muscle to break Lucio's bones like they were nothing more than rice crackers, and they rushed with a ferocity and disregard for their lives that no other species could ever hope to match- but Lucio was already a seasoned veteran that could handle them with his incredibly elite backup. Take away his reservations about killing humans, or sentient aliens, and he'd probably be fine after this.

Johanna reached the door, and slammed it open. Instantly, she put up her shield as a doazen banelings ambushed the doors, the torrent of acid corroding the metal in seconds. "Hope will never die!" A light started to work itself into her armour, as a great stream of fire and lightning followed up.

Even two people back, Lucio felt his skin burn a little by proximity to the attack. "Jo!" He set his amps to max, overclocking the healing aura.

"I'm fine!" She looked narrowly over the top of her shield, and walked out into the room. "This ends here, Diabolos."

Raynor caught sight of the demon, and gave a low whistle. "Whoo boy, you need some skin care, Red."

Diablo's normal hulking form was largely intact, and the Black Soulstone remained implanted in his forehead. But creep coated the scales, laced with short, defensive tentacles. And the eyes... they burned all the same, with demonic malevolence and wit. Faster than anything that size should have been able to move, Diablo lashed out at Johanna.

"I should have expected you!" He chanted mockingly, striking at her a few times while she blocked and parried with her shield. "The nephalem, chasing me across time and space itself- I was a fool to discount the notion!"

Valla leapt into the air and fired three bolts into emergent foes. Diablo was known for his trickery- his chatter was likely nothing but a distraction, in hopes of ploying those that hadn't fought him before."Stay alert! This fight will be difficult even if you do not lose focus!" She fired, but one of the short tendrils on Diablo blocked her arrow.

With a surge of brutal strength, Diablo backhanded Johanna into a wall, her shield bumping away and flail rolling form her grasp. Raynor went to pick her up, and was tackled into the wall. His bodyarmour buckled. "Ah, James Raynor!" Diablo leaned in close to his ear. "How does it feel, knowing I managed to hurt one of the only people you thought I couldn't? Sarah will lose everything, her swarm..." Diablo swung his tail, and Muradin was sent reeling. "...Her ambitions... Even YOU."

"Hey!" Lucio felt fear coursing through every inch of his being. He was certain that any more and he'd wet himself, but with pure grace he slid along the wall, brought up his amplifier and blasted the hardest soundwave he could, knocking the giant demon away. Raynor dropped to the floor, and grabbed his gun.

"Brave mortal..." Diablo turned his full attention to Lucio. "Brave, stupid, mortal... Your efforts are in vain. You cannot even hope to create a future you would desire, let along maintain it. You stand on the wrong side of history, and your family and name will be known as nothing more than convicts..."

"NO!" Lucio yelled. "I ain't afraid of you, dumbass!" The words were empty, and as he tried to kite Diablo he was grabbed and thrown aside. He hit the wall awkwardly, and felt a tremendous jolt of pain go through his leg. He tried to stand, and nearly blacked out.

Muradin and Valla were fighting to the last. The reinforcements seemed to have petered out. Diablo fell oddly quiet faced with them, merely fighting with a combination of strength and strategy, working to corner his foes.

They were losing. Two fighters unable to stand, Raynor barely able to aim his gun, and the two remaining wearing down quickly.

Diablo stiffened. "You... I sense- rgh- NGAHHH!" He shifted an arm to block an arrow, and seemed to seize up. A wave of purple energy washed over him.

It was over in a matter of seconds. A dozen zerg flooded the room, and they went straight for Diablo.

"Why... can I not control you!?" Diablo squashed a few flat, but the rest harried him and started to bite and rend at him.

Lucio saw one large one break cover from the underlings, and start dueling Diablo. They were evenly matched, with incredible strength- while the new zerg was slightly weaker, it was quicker.

"Mere... animal! FEAR ME!" Diablo yelled.

Dehaka spat his tongue out and grabbed Diablo's head, wrenching it down to the ground.

Then Kerrigan burst in from the door behind, sprinted the length of the room in under a second, leapt over Dehaka with ease, and in one fluid motion drove both wings through Diablo's back. She pulled them out, and flicked a bit of blood off. Diablo struggled to move, but Dehaka went to work executing him. "Ah. Jim. Nice of you to drop by." She said with a grin.

The second Diablo's power faded, a portal opened. Kerrigan stood in front of it, blocking access.

"Sarah..." Raynor propped himself up on his rifle. "It's done. We'll be leaving, now."

"Oh I don't think so." Kerrigan crossed her arms. "I did expect you'd beat Diablo and I'd have to be quicker, though." She looked over the room. "Not a terrible plan with the explosives, by the way. But I get a bit... _overprotective_ when people mess with my stuff. So... Who dies first? I'm going to keep you alive, Jim. You need to get back to Koprulu as much as I do. But these four? I couldn't give a crap about them if I tried." She walked up to Lucio.

He gazed at Kerrigan determinedly. "...Well. Wish I had some witty last words." He lay back, feeling something like music reverbrating through his body. It was otherworldly, a clear and bright note. "...Hey Raynor, stay strong, ok?"

Kerrigan drew back to strike, and stopped. "Hm? What's this energy..." She looked at Lucio.

He was confused, until he heard a voice cut through the peculiar feeling. **_Friend is in danger!_**

Brightwing popped into existence between Lucio and Kerrigan, and a wave of wind magic came through with her. Kerrigan was forced to step back, and then lost her footing and was slammed against the wall, caught off-guard. "Run! Run!" Encouraged Brightwing.

Lucio found a new strength in his legs, and picked himself up. He started walking forwards, going for the portal as fast as he could manage.

Kerrigan broke through the winds in a matter of seconds, psionic strength enabling her to push through. She shot a blast of energy at Brightwing, and even though it connected, some force weakened it enough to let her survive.

Raynor shook Muradin out of a stunned state, and they bolted through the portal. Valla picked up Johanna.

Lucio had never seen Brightwing this way, knowing her as nothing more than a whimsical reptile that wouldn't have been out of place in a kids' cartoon. She opened her mouth and hissed at Kerrigan, stirring up another round of Emerald Wind, buying more time.

Valla struggled to lift Johanna, but with some effort, dragged the crusader to safety. Lucio grit his teeth and went forwards, when a round of spikes broke through the floor and tripped him.

"You won't escape!" Kerrigan shouted, radiant with fury at having her plan knocked askew at the last second. She mustered a huge wave of energy, and broke through the winds, lunging for Lucio. He shut his eyes and braced.

A weight hit his back, but it wasn't sharp. He felt another round of wind magic pulse, and opened his eyes to see Kerrigan knocked away one last time. He reached for the last of his strength, and got up, going for the portal. Then he saw Brightwing, and realised what had hit his back. She was bleeding- she'd taken the hit. Lucio hesitated, reaching out to grab her and pull her through with him.

Kerrigan pushed forwards, undeterred, and Lucio flinched, realising he was about to be impaled. He was shoved out of the way, into the portal. The last thing he saw in the room was one of Kerrigan's spikes punch through Brightwing's back.

The portal closed.

* * *

Matthew was frantic. "What do you MEAN, we can't find Cook!? The heroes need evac this instant!"

"He's nowhere to be found- I even asked the heroes I ran into, and none of them have a clue!" Explained an equally frantic marine.

Matthew had his priorities in order, and before another second could pass he grabbed the communications array and slammed in Mira's code.

"Matt? I'm working."

"Cook is missing! I need you to get the others out!" Shouted Matt. A few gears clicked in his mind and added two more words to ensure it was absolutely top priority. "Bonus pay!"

"God, you're hot when you say that. Will do." The channel closed with a click, leaving only an incredibly stressed commander.

"Please. Please don't die, Raynor." Whispered Matthew, before taking a deep breath, and straightening himself out. "Prepare the ship for departure, our plan is blown- We'll reconvene with Mira at a later date, and we can't match the zerg."

Artanis, ever-present on a dedicated screen, had an offer. "If you wish, I could fire the Purifier Beam at the planet. It should be enough to wipe out one of the leviathan, at least."

"Do it."

* * *

Kerrigan tossed the limp body away. "Dehaka. You know what to do. Abathur won't be ready in time to make the most of things for this... creature." She glanced at the green lizard on the floor. "And Diablo won't be a threat to the hivemind without access."

"Yes." Without any hint of complaint, Dehaka picked up the two bodies, and started carrying them off, his pack surrounding him.

Kerrigan looked up to the sky, sensing the fabled Purifier Beam beginning to charge up. "Ugh, gimme a break..." She ran for the outside, along a separate passage.

* * *

Matthew watched as the beam finished charging, and a ray of light the size of a house went soaring from the Spear of Adun to the planet's surface.

"Long-range warp is ready."

"Take us out. Mira should be able to find her way to us." Ordered Matthew, as he watched the death beam penetrate the atmosphere.

It stopped before touching the ground, and Matthew did a double take.

"Sir... are you seeing this?"

"I see it." Confirmed Matthew, looking out the window in a mixture of awe and horror. "Why isn't it hitting, Artanis?"

* * *

Kerrigan, as always, was the one responsible for the confusion and/or fear of the Terrans and Protoss. Arms and wings outstretched, she was discharging enough power to turn anything in a thirty foot radius to ash. And from that power was the most incredibly concentrated, powerful barrier she could project.

Normally, that would have exhausted her in seconds, but the jewel held against her chest thrummed with energy, replenishing hers. It was agony to channel, the force scorching her veins and threatening to burn out her very mind- and she knew it.

So, with one colossal shove...

* * *

"Is it..." Matthew blinked. That wasn't possible. Energy contained in the beam aside, _light didn't even bend that way!_ But there was no denying it. "ARTANIS, EMERGENCY WARP!"

"How can this be?!" Artanis took command of his ship in a split second, beginning a warp.

Matthew watched as by some godlike power, the Purifier Beam _was bent in a U-turn,_ and came soaring back up towards the Spear of Adun. As much as he was morbidly fixated on what was happening, his 'good commander' instinct kicked in. "Warp us out, too!"

As the engines heated up, he saw the beam hit the arkship, and then everything went white.

* * *

The warp dropped the Hyperion in space, alone. Matthew gripped the table. "Adjutant, damage report?"

"Structural damage sustained to outer hull. No air breaches detected."

Greatest fear dispelled, he looked around the room. "Okay, everyone..." He needed a second to gather himself in the face of the absolute cluster-F-bomb that was the last two minutes. "...We need to..." _Find Raynor. Find out what happened to the Protoss. Check the heroes are okay. Double-check the ship. Find Cook._ "Get our heads together. And then there's work to do."

 **Author's notes: Did you see that coming? I'd like to think I can make things interesting, at least.**

 **Really want comments on this chapter, since it was so important. Do you find this better or worse than the comics?**


	10. Chapter 10: Pains

Cassia didn't know what had just transpired, but given the size of the blast outside the ship and the fact Johanna and Valla had yet to return, she and her fellow demon slayers were among the most desperate for answers.

Although Jaina and Uther had combined forces with Varian to very nearly kick down the door to the bridge to find out what happened to Muradin, they hadn't managed to do so with the same speed (or diplomacy) of Kharazim, who had very gracefully and quietly shattered the lock with his foot, before stepping in and striking up a conversation with Matthew.

"Captain Horner." Kharazim said, voice carrying through everything. "What has happened outside?"

"...Well, I didn't expect you'd come so quickly." Matthew wiped his brow. "I'll explain everything, but please wait a moment so I can work out the answer myse- Oh, um, hello..." He registered the rest of the Nephalem and also Jaina, Uther, Varian, Cassia, Tyreal...

"Peace, my fellows." Kharazim said without looking back. "We share a cause, and Captain Horner is clearly in the same situation we are."

"Can we help?" Called Jaina. "All of us would be glad to help rescue our friends, and I will follow any instructions you have."

"...Gather every hero in the canteen, plus Cook if you can find him." Said Matthew. "And then... could you do a headcount? Adjutant, run a check on ALL marines, and notify me if any are missing."

"Acknowledged."

Matthew stood at attention. "I'll be there at exactly 1200 hours to report everything I can. Until then, please keep a careful watch. Don't spread this news, but... I cannot find Cook anywhere. Mira should have evacuated the others in his place, but... a lot is unknown."

"I'll do my best." Jaina gave a very small bow. "King Varian, if you and Uther find Greymane, you can sweep the ship quickly enough. I'll find some paper and start listing who's accounted for."

"Of course. Come!" Varian guided Uther away, and the Nephalem left with them, apart from Nazeebo.

The witch doctor looked at Matt through his mask, the wooden eyes as emotional as a snake. "Bad mojo." He said, sighing a little. "There is much afoot, and it is riddled with darkness and smoke." The eyes locked onto Matthew's and he found himself unable to look away. "Do not lose yourself, Horner. Without James, YOU are the one who must serve as our guiding light through this shadowy existence."

Horner nodded, and swallowed. "I... will do my utmost, Sir Nazeebo." He calmed himself. "...If I may be so bold as to ask, can you tell me anything that may help?"

"Ah, you would trust the ramblings of an old man?" The smile of the mask seemed more highlighted, but nobody could tell if it was mocking or approving.

"To disbelieve in the supernatural at this point would be absurd. I want to make a good future, and that means looking at every possible answer to a problem."

"...Cook's spirit is no longer in this physical world." Nazeebo answered. "Do not waste this precious time looking for him."

Matthew wanted to speak more, but... the words wouldn't come. He was inclined to disbelieve Nazeebo, for lack of proof, but... No, perhaps the words had merit- if Cook were around, he would have been located by now. The witch doctor walked out of the room.

So, that left some other things to check.

The screen Artanis had been on was showing static. Matthew went over. "Captain, can you start scanning for the Spear of Adun? I don't think that blast could possibly have destroyed it, although it didn't look good."

"Yes, commander."

Matt cast his mind to the other pressing affairs. He needed to find Mira Han immediately, before she got into more trouble. And aside from that, he had to piece together what he could of the failed plan.

At 0600, they'd departed. At 0646, they'd landed. The push had taken until 1045, since demonic energy had reportedly disappeared around 1045. Now it was 1105. Matt really wished he had some more time, or at least more information.

* * *

"In summary, our priority goal is locating and retrieving our strike force, as it it presumed they are still alive thanks to Mira Han." Finished Matthew, looking out over the room. "As a secondary goal, we want to reconvene with the Protoss, or our scouts Nova and Tychus, to find out the state of this conflict."

The heroes seemed to be taking the news as well as could be expected. The weight of their utter disappointment in Horner was in every face, even if the vast majority tempered it with the understanding they had gained over their lives.

"If anyone can contribute any service or information, then I would deeply appreciate it. I'll even offer additional priveliges regarding curfews and the job rota." Matthew said, before making to leave the stage.

On the way out, Jaina snagged him. "Don't worry about us." She reassured. "While we all hoped things would go better, everyone here supports you fully."

Horner stood at attention, and kept his voice formal. "Thanks. I need to keep the ship running now though, so is there anything you need to say?"

Jaina took a sheet of paper she had, and showed a list of the heroes by dormitory, with ticks next to names. "It's about the head count. Everyone is here, apart from Doctor Cook, and... well, I'm hesitant to write her off due to her whimsical disposition, but... we think Brightwing is missing."

"I see. Do you know who I can speak to that would know her well?"

"Malfurion." Answered Jaina. "Listen, if I can ease your burden, just let me know- really. I want to contribute as much as I can to keeping people safe."

"That's good of you, and I'll bear it in mind. If possible, could you think of some ways to apply magic to solve our problems? I'm unfamiliar with it as a whole, I'm afraid. And... pass on my apologies to Varian. Muradin was one of his, no?"

"I will. I'll see you later, Admiral."

* * *

Dehaka boarded his leviathan, dragging the bodies of two heroes. Diablo had been ravaged by Kerrigan, and had he not already been zerg it would have been enough damage to put him beyond infestation, the brain irreparable- although his sequences could have been deciphered nonetheless. His body was completely limp, without any life within.

The other had been incapacitated with great precision. In Koprulu, the zerg killed and assimilated- with few exceptions. In the nexus, it was a different playbook. Assimilation was unreliable, changes slowed and sometimes failed entirely. So, in order to gain the strength of the fallen, Kerrigan instead used infestation to sway them.

Dehaka regarded the broken thing in his arms. Kerrigan had torn through a wing and pierced straight through the body, yet somehow avoided the lungs and heart, to prolong the time before death. It's breathing was shallow while in Abathur's leviathan, and when they'd been outside briefly, had stopped entirely. But it still clung to life, just barely. It would have to be infested first.

So he stood before a primal spawning pool, contained on his ship. Normally Abathur handled infestation, but he was out of commission for the moment, and Diablo had to be kept out of the hivemind. Dehaka placed Brightwing's body into the pool of DNA and bacteria, watching as it reacted to the hyper-evolutionary properties of the pool.

Infestation could have myriad effects, but if done by Abathur personally was controllable. Primal infestation was a battle of willpower to keep your mind and self from being consumed by the pool. A struggle for dominance over entirely new instincts and traits being forcibly written into your DNA, dozens of systems being jumped ahead by many thousands of years, and new ones growing within you.

A chrysalis formed over the body. A sign that they weren't losing their struggle.

Dehaka waited patiently, ready to see a new zerg join him.

* * *

Pain.

Getting stabbed hurt. Bleeding out hurt. Breathing the sulfurous air really hurt.

But being placed into the spawning pool had hurt enough to send Brightwing far beyond the point of blacking out. It reduced her entire perception of the world to one supernova of agony, white-hot and blacking out everything but that pain.

And now her subconscious was fighting to keep her alive. Basic instincts and genetics fought against foreign ones, testing what would be preserved and what would be overwritten. A normal reptile would have been overcome in moments, simply broken down to nothing for its lack of potential.

But she was more than that. A race created to fight off demons and mages, to stand against forces that could topple mountains with nothing but the blood and tissue they were made of, hardy survivalists to the core.

She was aware of a vision, briefly. She saw memories of times immemorial, on a planet she didn't recognize, killing and growing stronger, evolving to survive...

And the pain ceased.

Her mind, accelerated by the infusion of nutrients and other things, pulled her from the short coma, back to reality, to a darkness filled with a green fluid...

She tried to breathe, and took in the fluid. She panicked for a second, before realising she wasn't choking.

She opened her eyes. She couldn't see much, a soft glow lighting up the inside of this tiny chamber. Black walls enclosed her, trapping her.

She pushed against the wall, with her head and then with her claws. It didn't move much at first, but she pushed again- and it tore, the green fluid spilling out into some kind of large puddle below her.

She blinked a few times, clearing her eyes, as she crawled out from the dissolving chrysalis, shaking off the disorientation. She felt the fluid dribbling out of her mouth, rapidly emptying her lungs. With a small jump, she cleared the pool and landed on the floor, exhausted but vitalised at the same time.

It was around that point her senses woke up enough to tell her there was another being in the room. Right in front of her. "Brightwing is... not dead?"

"My name, is, Dehaka. One-who-collects. I am, leader, of, pack."

She saw the zerg towering over her, and quivered. There was no way she was in any condition to escape or fight back. But something inside her stirred a new emotion, before she could grow too scared. Loyalty? Or maybe something close to respect? "Are you... new friend?" She gasped, memories of the minute before her death coming back. "Friends! Did friends escape!?"

"I am, your, alpha." Dehaka leaned lower, to talk to her. "...Do not, know 'friend'. Do not understand."

"Brightwing must go to friends, had to save Loose-o from zerg!" She suddenly started to panic, before whispering. "Zerg..?"

"You, are zerg. I, am zerg."

Brightwing stopped, looking around herself. At the walls, the floors, the creature in front of her, and finally to the back of her own hand.

What few parts of Faerie Dragon instinct left in her recoiled in horror, absolute revulsion at what she had become. Corrupted by something, the one thing she was born to prevent. Thoughts of the zerg, what they'd done to everyone in the group and to Lucio wiped the thought of escape from her head. She'd already felt unwelcome amongst the humans, unable to connect with them and make friends no matter how she tried- she thought they saw her as a monster, no matter how nice she tried to play. But now...

She scrambled backwards, into a corner, trying to shut her eyes and wish away the changes. Zerg instinct kicked in, and forced her eyes open in wariness- the only other thing in the room was a dangerous predator. Yet... something compelled her to trust and follow that predator, and that scared her most of all, because that thought wasn't her own.

"Brightwing is... scared. Why thinking Dehaka friend? Not friend."

"Does not, matter." Dehaka was picking up something large, and then with some effort he pushed it into the pool.

She could only stay there shivering as it was encapsulated in another chrysalis, larger than hers. "No like..." She whispered, staying in the far corner of the room.

Half an hour later, she'd calmed a tiny bit, as it had become clear Dehaka had no interest in attacking her. Not a word had been spoken, as she struggled to overcome her mental obstacles, and he simply waited for time to pass patiently.

The second chrysalis burst, and Diablo clawed his way out, stamping out of the pool and roaring, before hunching over and snarling, before sinking to his knees.

All Brightwing's worries about the zerg were replaced with _demon._ She tried to back off further in fright, but was already in the corner.

"Mere... worms..." Breathed Diablo. "You dare afflict my mind..." He clenched a hand on the floor.

"You, are dominated." Dehaka looked down at Diablo. "Your mind, restrained. No, hivemind. Obedience, forced in."

"GRAHHHH! You... YOU!" Diablo glared up hatefully, but couldn't seem to raise a finger against Dehaka. "I refuse to serve!"

"You, cannot refuse."

"Then I shall destroy all I can!" Diablo got up, and turned to Brightwing. He drew back, and swiped at her.

She jumped away from the ground, dodging the swipe, and then saw Dehaka growl at Diablo. The demon cringed, and halted.

"Rest." Ordered Dehaka.

Brightwing landed behind Dehaka, putting an obstacle between her and terror. Diablo was rapidly losing consciousness, before collapsing asleep.

"You should, feed." Dehaka looked back to her. "Go. Hunt."

She took her chance to get out of the room.

* * *

Lucio came out of the portal, hit the floor and crumpled. Mira took one look at him and shut the portal, worry creasing her face for a mere moment before she was back to her normal self.

The floor he was lying on was hard red rock, dusty and dirty. The air was... breathable. Maybe.

"Mira? Why did you shut the gate?" Said Raynor. "That critter who saved us was still in there- hell, we've just left them to die!"

Mira shook her head. "Already gone. Not letting Kerrigan chase us now. We all need to find somewhere to recover. And then... I'll need to get us back to Matthew."

She looked over the group, assessing the injuries. Variety was the spice of life, life was pain.

Valla was the least beaten-up, with a few chips taken out of her shoulderpad. Evasion had served her well in the fight against Diablo.

Johanna couldn't stand, legs and back bruised beyond belief, but she was conscious and somehow alive, considering how hard she hit the wall.

Muradin was burned all over, and had many spikes sticking out of his armour, but dwarves were dwarves, they didn't die often.

Raynor was the overall worst injured. His armour had been crushed with him inside, and the extent of his injuries were impossible to tell. He still had all his limbs, but Mira doubted he'd have escaped without adrenaline giving him borderline life-support to get through the portal.

Lucio looked at his leg. He could have sworn it had sprained, and the rest of his injuries were still undeniable and painful, but his leg... it hurt alright, but he could at least move it. He picked up his sonic amplifier. The device wasn't broken, to his immense relief. But it didn't have unlimited batteries, and even so, it wasn't good to overuse the technology.

...But it still had thirty percent battery, and another few hours of use could be the difference between life and death here. Lucio restarted his crossfade. "Ugh... no way... how did things go that way?" He muttered, getting up with some difficulty. "Mira, we gotta get these guys to a proper medic."

"No problem." Mira was prying off Raynor's bodyarmor, the buckling having made that a daunting task. "Look over there."

Lucio looked. A complex of buildings rose in the distance.

"Welcome to Deadman's Port, my homeworld and base of operations." Mira put her hands on her hips. "Sure, I didn't manage to land us right in it, but the portal was at ground level. There's free healthcare and rum over there, and we also have casual fridays. Ideal world, trust me." She had a smile so crazy that the onlookers wondered if she was even being sarcastic. "Just watch out for anyone not named Mira Han, they're liable to kill you."

Valla picked up Johanna, and slung the crusader over her back. She trembled under the weight, but straightened. "We must move now. These injuries are too great to leave untreated."

Raynor got out a choked "Yeah" before bringing up an arm and helping Mira pull the front off his armour. He sucked in a deep breath, and put a hand on his heart. "Not out of the woods yet, folks. But we ain't dead, and we've got a destination. Nothing to do but reach it."

The walk was a hard slog. Normally, it would have been half an hour and a nice straight stroll to reach there.

Lucio deactivated his skates first thing. They hurt too much to use. Rejuvenascia was working wonders for the group, giving them the strength to keep pushing onwards. Raynor was like a possessed doll, seeming to continue to walk and even talk when Lucio had realised that at least three of his ribs were cracked. Did he have no nerve endings? Was he just the world's toughest man? Was he even more of a team player than Lucio?

"Hey, Lucio." Raynor said, as Valla wordlessly marched behind Mira. "...You ever had someone do that before?"

"Huh?"

"Sacrifice their life for you."

Lucio looked down. "A... a couple of times." He needed a second to gather the strength not to collapse. "I was leading a social revolution. A lot of people loved me, but the ones on the top just... saw me as a threat, I guess. When I was starting out, I couldn't afford a proper security getup, I was the leader and the only fighter, with the 'amazing Vishkar tech' that I stole."

"Assassins." Raynor deduced.

"Mm. I... man, I hoped I was past people dying for me. I always tried my best to pick up as much danger as anyone that was helping me. Saved most. Not all." Lucio admitted. "...But, it feels worse when you don't see it coming."

"Yeah. You saw Kerrigan? Well. I thought she was going to be back from the mission where she was captured without a scratch on her." Raynor grunted, and rubbed his arm. "Dammit, think there's something sharp in there. I was watching out for her, had the best magistrate without a single loss to his name, and a commander I trusted as one of the smartest."

"What happened?"

"Commander betrayed her. It was over an old grudge. And so, the worst mass murderer in history was born, and I lost Kerrigan." Raynor said.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I... don't know if I could fight someone I loved. Gotta be horrible, being reminded every time you see her."

"I actually trusted her to have returned to her old self a few times. Got burned pretty bad. Lost another few close buddies. I'll be the man that kills her, whatever it takes."

There was a pause, as they picked their way around a large rock, and saw whatever passed for the sun setting over this world, orange light illuminating the hard ground. If not for the strange skies and the occasional blue crystal growing on the rocks, it could have been from the desert wastes in central America, in the old west.

"But then... why'd she want to spare you?" Lucio asked.

"No clue. Probably one of her schemes, to get someone else killed. But anyway... I guess I need to thank you, and apologise." Raynor said gravely. "I didn't know that, uh... critter, but she died saving us all. That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been someone she was willing to save. So thanks for being a good enough person to get us saved, and I'm sorry that we weren't good enough to avoid what happened."

Lucio nodded. "I... barely knew her. She struggled with her chores, since she didn't have any hands. And... she could be kind of scary. But she had a pretty pure heart. Just wanted to be friends with everyone. Showed up at my room to wish me luck, and... and..." He bit his lip. "She said she'd keep me safe. I had no idea... Raynor, she died for me just because I was willing to help her with some cooking and cleaning. That's messed up." He shook his head. "Guess I'll have to pay respects if I can. Find her family and say sorry if I get the chance."

"You're a good kid. The world could always use-" Raynor trundled to a halt, coming up to Mira. "Huh? Something wrong, Mira?"

Mira pulled out a phone, and turned around with a finger over her lips. It buzzed a few times, before someone picked up. "This is Mira Han. If you could mobilise my personal unit and get them to the front gate subtly, that would be nice." The person on the other end chattered a bit while Mira nodded. "Yes, and prep the medbay for five. Catch you in twenty minutes." She ended the call and stuffed the phone into her pocket. "Alright, we're good to go ahead. Once you get into the city, don't leave my sight or you'll probably get held hostage and executed."

"Uh... Why?" Asked Lucio.

"I'm the leader of the largest mercenary band in Koprulu. I don't keep them in line with ass-kissing, so work out the rest yourself." Mira answered, brushing some dust off her jacket.

Raynor was the one to actually explain. "Basically, kid- she gives them the ability to stay safe outside the law, as long as they obey her she pays them a cut and doesn't have them shot. If they got power over her, they could become the new leader by blackmail. And right now, she's our ally. So we'd be the blackmail."

"Got it. You're basically a gang leader, huh? Knew a few growing up." Lucio commented.

"Ah, gang leader is a weak word. Try 'pirate queen'."

* * *

Artanis looked around his ship.

The beam had, either by luck or intention, done no serious damage. He'd knocked out his shields and been forced into an emergency warp, but the probes could take care of the repairs.

But the warp... standard protocol for a protoss escape warp was the greastest distance possible. Normally, a sound move, but here in the Nexus? Star charts were useless. They had no idea where they were, lost in space. Reversing the warp would put them right into Kerrigan's grasp.

He heard the hum of a gravitational manipulation device. Thoughts moved through the Khala, establishing communication. "Artanis. How do you fare?"

"I am thankful for your support, Fenix. This is a difficult decision to make, regarding our next move. I do not want to abandon our allies, but we currently cannot hope to beat Kerrigan."

"I know you well, Artanis, as you know me." Intoned Fenix. "You would find a way to locate our allies from here, without sacrificing any protoss that did not have to die. I would quite gladly die to further your ambitions, especially if I can help our race against the zerg."

"You can only die once. I refuse to waste lives, even if... sacrifice is necessary to win."

"Then how shall you locate our allies?"

Artanis looked at the golden metal shell of the Dragoon. It was expressionless, but the Khala conveyed emotions clearly. It wasn't a question- Fenix wanted to hear his plans. "I may send a message to Tassadar and Zeratul. They could eventually relay it to Raynor. Or better yet, a warp beacon. Yes, that could work... Although I will have to take them away from watching the Raven Lord."

"Allow me to go in their place. I am no Dark Templar, nor do I wish to be- but if I can best serve as a sentry, so shall it be."

"Fenix, I would never lower a warrior like you to a Sentry. Are you truly accepting of this task?" The answer resonated between them instantly. "Then I thank you for the offer. I will have a beacon made, while you gather your forces."

* * *

Tyreal betrayed no emotion as the news spread. He had no doubts Lucio were still alive out in the cosmos. A soul seeking such pure and rightfully-owed justice was inextricably linked to his existence.

Yet...

He stared at the chores rota. Kel'thuzad was on cooking. Ragnaros assigned to mop the corridors. Neither would be remotely capable of doing a job the other inhabitants deserved to have done well. Around this point, Lucio should have been making a few upbeat comments, and going off to make sure the food was fine while asking him to handle the water for Ragnaros.

He knew, here and now, that Lucio was owed justice for the suffering inflicted on him. And the rest of the group. If the zerg so wished to antagonise him, he would happily answer the call and mete out justice alongside the rest of the mortals.

* * *

The bridge was occupied with Matthew and Varian's team, all brainstorming ideas around a table. Jaina had done a little research and preparation, and even calculated what the mages on the ship could do if they banded together.

Varian was more than pleased to offer insight on how best to put him to use. He'd also been responsible for having Cassia take over scourge-watching duties. He'd be damned if anyone from Azeroth was going to let them stab everyone in the group in the back.

So, they all just focused on the task at hand- working out where Mira would have escaped to, and how to reach her.

Greymane tapped the table. "You need to think like her. Where would she consider safe?"

Horner lit up. "Of course!"

"Oh? An idea?" Uther looked over. "Let's hear it."

"There's only one place Mira would ever run to. Deadman's Port. If she can't open a portal to us, then she'll make her way there." Matt deduced. "...But I don't know how to find it in the Nexus. Maps are completely useless, nothing is where it should be."

"Maybe... we could attempt to open a portal?" Offered Jaina. "Or perhaps I could try a spell to give me some idea of the general direction? I've not tried to cast on such a large scale before, but maybe with all of us we could get the faintest idea..."

"Even with all of you mages working together, I know you don't have the range to cover all Azeroth, let alone the distances we've encountered up here." Varian countered. "But try it anyway. Some idea is better than none."

"If I may?" Horner interjected. "Distances in the nexus seem fairly comparable to Koprulu, so if I warp us to three locations and you obtain a directional vector, then perhaps we could triangulate Deadman's Port?"

Jaina clapped her hands together. "Brilliant! I'll gather everyone and explain the plan."

"Er... Triangulate?" Asked Varian.

"If you have three instances of lines pointing towards something, then you can predict where the lines will cross. Triangulation is when you apply mathematics to that." Explained Jaina. "It's taught to anyone who needs to command ships."

"Ah, right. Excellent. I'm afraid I missed some studies while I was without my memories, and it's hard to cover everything." He slid his chair away, and picked up his sword again. "I'm going to relieve Cassia of her task. I'm sure she doesn't wish to spend all day tracking a lich. But while we have a chance to speak... Matthew, when you have some spare time, I'd like to come and discuss armies with you. Your guns are impressive, to say the least." He nodded and left.

"Jaina, come to me once you've gathered everyone, and I'll begin the warps. How long will it take to cast your location spell each time?"

"No more than a few minutes."

"I'll look forwards to working with you, then. Thank you for your help, ladies and gentlemen."

 **Author's notes: So, that's the aftermath of the Diablo incident. I think I'll do another chapter of character interaction next, while things wind up for the next series of events... After all, nobody is going to just let Mira be.**

 **As always, if you want to see a bit of interaction between any specific two heroes, then just comment- the sooner the better.**

 **Reviewer answer!**

 **TJtrack99: Be careful what you wish for- I didn't kill her! It was always planned for this to happen though, both to give me a character to interact with the zerg extensively and to further my own ambitions...**

 **This might be a blow to the heroes, but both sides are far from their low points in this conflict. No spoilers on victories, ultimate or not... but I plan to get at least a good 25 chapters out of this, if not more.**


	11. Chapter 11: Convergence

The gates of Deadman's Port were tall things. When Lucio had imagined a town for space pirates that often cobbled things together from scrap, his mind had jumped to Junkertown on earth, only with the occasional glowing blue bit.

What he got was Junkertown, but if you gave it access to every scrapheap on earth, a workforce that had all the motivation of a dog faced with steak, zero restrictions on what could and couldn't be built, and a distinct focus on keeping anyone that might try to stop you out.

"Daaamn." He crossed his arms. "Nice place. I know some folks who'd love to put his on an album cover."

"Ah, you flatter me. What is it you like about the port, the shitty construction or the residential mercenary army?" Mira joked, as the doors opened.

Immediately, six burly mercenaries filed out and ringed around the group, guiding them in. These were hardy men loyal only to Mira Han, regardless of the credits waved at them. They ushered them all into a small transport shuttle that was absolutely dripping with armour plates, with someone in a dirty suit and a fancy hat at the wheel.

"Good day, Mira. Where will it be?"

"Same as always."

"At once." The driver lit a cigarette with one hand and slammed the accelerator, speeding through the streets at a lethal pace while expertly dodging anything in the way.

While Valla struggled to avoid being bowled out of her seat, and desperately held Johanna steady, Mira relaxed and absorbed the wild ride like a nice massage. She looked back casually. "So, Raynor. I heard that you're from the time just before you started your campaign to bring down Kerrigan and Mengsk."

"Dunno... I felt a bit hopeless." Raynor shrugged. "Losing over and over does that to you. Then again, I've met Tychus in this here Nexus. Pretty sure he could have pulled my head out of my ass."

"Okay. Well, in that case let me tell you something. In your campaign, you were after an artefact. You ended up using it to purify Kerrigan and that's all well and good, but we came to blows clashing over a piece."

"Hold up, I _won_?" Asked Raynor incredulously. "You mean to say I actually got her?"

"You de-infested her. It wasn't the end of the whole drama, but a decent relief for anyone concerned."

"Hey, now that's the best news I've had in a long time. Anyway, what did you need to tell me?"

"I wouldn't show your face outside my personal HQ. It's liable to be blown off, instead of just kidnapped."

"I can handle that." Shrugged Raynor. "Hell, compared to knowing I finally get one over on the zerg that's small talk. You guys got a bar in that HQ?"

"Naturally."

"Well, first round's on me. To commemorate our survival, and that bit of good news." Raynor leaned back.

* * *

Each leviathan could hold more than an entire army of zerg. Thousands upon thousands, just like Stukov's Aleksander, the Spear of Adun, or the Hyperion. Kerrigan and Zagara had nigh-identical Leviathans, the difference being that Kerrigan had Izsha to act as a control system for hers. Those two were dedicated interstellar war vessels, capable of standing up to pretty much anything.

The recently reclaimed leviathan belonging to Abathur was the swarm's testing grounds, storage and most importantly, laboratory. His was still teeming with combat strains that could be unleashed as needed, but space was allocated to creating new ones, and infesting things that needed to be infested.

Dehaka's was a little different. The primal zerg had no hivemind, and simply followed one deep-seated instinct. Survive. However you had to. Most were smart enough to recognise they could follow Dehaka, and by extension Kerrigan, or become food. But unlike the swarm, they had infighting. Food wasn't always minerals. If a zergling were weak or vulnerable, then unlike the swarm which would assess the most efficient method of repair and see if outweighed just killing it and making a new one, the chances are it would end up as something larger's next meal.

And somehow, she knew that. That there were larger things around this leviathan, and they were likely to kill her if she was easier to kill than it was to find some minerals. Not that different to nature. But... there was still something nagging in her mind, that told her she was only understanding half of this.

However, she was hungry. So she waited. A gaggle of zerglings passed by in a corridor. A few milled around, purpose unknown. Everywhere she looked, many of them hid in locations, some wary and some 'resting', even if they never truly slept.

One was isolated. Maybe it thought it was safe. But it had never seen magic before. Brightwing looked at the alien, the spikes and carapace, unsure if she was even capable of hunting something like that. But an urge within spurred her on.

Polymorph reduced it to a sheep, for a few moments, and Brightwing dropped down from the ceiling, and bit at the neck. Polymorph ended, but the gaping wound transferred. It was dead. She was amazed at how easily it had gone down. And before she knew it, she was pulling it away to somewhere that she hoped she was out of sight, before biting down, eating quickly to minimise time spent vulnerable.

She didn't like it. The fear surrounding her had nothing to do with Diablo- she was a stranger in this place, without any idea of what could and couldn't kill her. The only other being she'd seen that was able to talk was Dehaka. And... that mysterious drive to obey terrified her.

Fed, she crawled to somewhere she thought was hidden, and rested.

After a few hours, she heard something approaching, and snapped to alert. Staying in hiding seemed the obvious choice, but...

Dehaka came around the corner, and she jumped.

"You. We, must, see Kerrigan. Report." Dehaka instructed.

"I..." Brightwing tried to refuse. Kerrigan had killed her. Dehaka scared her. Diablo might be there, and Diablo scared her much more. "Will follow."

And so she did. Out of the Leviathan, and across the sulfurous grounds. The air blew into her eyes and filled her lungs, yet... she didn't burn. She blinked, and looked around. She took a deep breath. The environment that had been enough to choke and blind her in moments wasn't affecting her at all.

"Why Brightwing not hurt?" She asked, before she could stop herself.

"...You, are evolved. Many, new capabilities."

"..." She wanted to cower away again, but the answer was a little reassuring. Merely talking to something was an improvement for her.

They entered Abathur's leviathan, going through the chambers. Many of them were caked in now-dry blood, but there was a total lack of any other evidence a battle had occurred, the bodies recycled into biomass. The scent of death lingered, however.

They eventually emerged into a large chamber. Kerrigan was there, conversing with a large slug-like zerg and a man in uniform. She turned around. "Dehaka. Were the infestations successful?"

"Yes. Demon, sedated. Should not leave, unwatched. Not, for long."

Kerrigan looked around, and saw Brightwing trying to hide behind the nearest obstacle. Which, again, was Dehaka. "Ah, back from the dead. Welcome to the swarm, enjoy your stay, yadda yadda whatever. Serve me and I'll let you live. If I don't have any orders for you, do whatever Dehaka says." Done with her induction, she went back to Dehaka. "My plans are coming together. Now I just need to focus on becoming as powerful as I can and using that power to actually find a way out. But there are some other things we have to take care of. We have to avoid retaliation. As long as we can avoid killing anyone important or destroying something that can't be replaced, things'll probably be fine."

Stukov took over. "So, we don't have much choice but to go for preemptive strikes against anyone who's a threat. I will be assuming military command on a day-to-day basis, to free up time for Kerrigan. I will expect your help in my plans."

"So long, as you offer the greatest chance, of survival. I, will follow." Answered Dehaka. He betrayed no emotion. It was questionable if he had any.

Stukov shrugged. "Well, the universe gets consumed by a mad god if we fail. Don't skip out on my orders lightly. Until then, report to me. We'll begin tracing our prey soon."

"I, understand. Will, return to leviathan."

As Dehaka made to leave, Brightwing followed. Regardless of her apprehensions about Dehaka, the others were completely unapproachable right now.

Brightwing was so consumed with wariness about the whole situation and the ever-present fear that when Dehaka spoke, she nearly jumped and hid in fright again. "They, forgot to, tell you one thing."

"What?" She whispered.

"You can go onto, any ship freely. But, do not hunt, their broods. They, will turn on you." Warned Dehaka.

As serious as the warning was, Brightwing did appreciate it. For just a moment, confidence rose inside her and she asked a question. "Why... do I... not have choice?" That wasn't quite what she meant to ask, and she knew it. "Um... not choice... just... Brightwing... cannot say no..."

"You cannot, because, you would die." Answered Dehaka easily. "Survival, is, your drive. Change is survival, but... this place..." He trailed off into a growl, before finishing his explanation. "When, you could kill, the other, you will find it is, easier to choose."

"..."

"But... choose wisely. Survival... not always, easy."

* * *

Jaina looked at Gul'dan with very hesitant trust. Gul'dan looked at Kel'thuzad with a smirk. Kel'thuzad just acted haugty and above Gul'dan, while Kael'thas and Li-Ming watched all of them with a level of concern and disgust.

"Okay. I've written out the entire spell in advance, I _only_ want you to give me a power boost, like before." Warned Jaina. "If ANY of you try to add fel power or death curses then I assure you, you won't survive the next thirty seconds. Just ask Kel'thuzad."

"Well, I look quite healthy for someone slain by you." Kel'thuzad said, before leering around. "Perhaps they should give it a try, we could always use some more liches..."

"I dearly hope that was a joke." Kael'thas murmured. "Lady Jaina, I shall of course aid you, in the name of the past times we once spent together! Although, if you would consider just helping me kill Arthas..."

"Enough!" Jaina slammed the butt of her staff on the floor for attention. "Let's just start before someone kills someone else!"

The location spell, as predicted, had an utterly feeble reading. It was simply too great a distance. But a reading was a reading.

Morales was operating the computer to record everything. "Which direction do we need to go?"

"..." Jaina stepped forwards, observing her spell. "I can't be sure about the accuracy, but try a bearing of 277, with a downwards adjustment of... about... thirty degrees?"

"Bearing... um... we don't have a magnetic north up here." Morales said awkwardly. "Which way do you consider north?"

Jaina was given pause. "...Where's the biggest magnet on the ship?"

"Engineering bay."

"That's now north."

Morales did some mental gymnastics, and then pulled a map of the ship up and was able to work out the direction. This wasn't a good method for navigation, but it beat nothing. "...Okay. I'll ping Matt and have him warp to the next co-ordinates."

Strictly speaking, two readings would be enough to locate Deadman's Port, but everyone agreed they needed at least three, to be sure this was working.

Now came the really difficult part, that Jaina had been dreading since she had to actually bring herself to speak to Gul'dan, let alone enlist him to help her; waiting ten minutes before the next warp.

"So, when are you going to kill me?" He said, with the absolute smugness of an orc that knows he's not going to die here. "Can you do it before I blow a hole in the ship? Can you find out if I have any crew members corrupted?"

"Can you do it without taking your eyes off me?" Added Kel'thuzad.

Jaina sighed and did her best to play it off as knowing they were bluffing while inwardly being highly unsure they weren't. "Can you perhaps not? There are better conversations to be had than all these empty threats."

"Indeed, I have some most complex questions about the fel." Kael'thas started. "If you would be so kind, how exactly does the fourth rune channel the-"

"Also not a conversation we're having today." Jaina had a horrible suspicion the conversation would end in _somebody_ getting manipulated by Gul'dan. "Let's just..." She did her best to think of something that couldn't possibly end badly. "Talk about... Er, Rosa, maybe you have a good topic?"

"Well, I am curious about the medicine in your worlds." She started. "I've talked to Li Li a bit, and I understand that you can brew effective healing potions- but do you have hospitals? Do healers take an oath? Are medics protected under laws?"

"Hmm... We do have hospitals, but we rarely need them to be that large. If an injury doesn't kill you or permanently cripple, we can normally fix you up in a short time." Jaina said, thinking of the other answers.

"Laws are only words. What are they worth without someone willing to enforce them?" Gul'dan said dismissively. "I consider it prudent to eliminate healers in battle. It cuts off the enemy's resources."

"In our world, it was considered a war crime to shoot a medic for a very long time. Recently, they had to withdraw that law, though." Morales said. "It was when our healing beams came into use. The marines were being subjected to combat for such long periods that there was real danger of them banding together to demand change. The UED would have had to slaughter its entire army to keep it's power if they did, so... they withdrew the Geneva convention. Maybe it was for the best, but it makes my job harder."

"UED?" Asked Kel'thuzad.

"My faction. The UED is a fascist dictatorship with complete control of earth. They maintain a stable society with little conflict and reduced hardships, but they do so by imposing a doctrine that prevents anyone disobeying authority, regardless of circumstance. Many people suffer under it, especially those who realise there might be a better life for them elsewhere."

Gul'dan suddenly lost his taunting demeanor, looking far too interested for such a short conversation. "Fascinating... Your name- what was it..?"

"I am lieutenant Rosa Morales, formerly of the UED, presently in service to the Terran Dominion."

"I see..." Murmured Gul'dan. "Tell me more about this... UED."

Kael'thas rolled his eyes. "One mention of world domination and he latches right on..."

"Well, I'm not the biggest expert in history, but first you'll need to know some things about the political climate in old earth... erm... where to start..?" The computer pinged, and there was a wave of motion throughout the room as the ship warped. Everyone had to get steady for a second, but they were at least used to warp sickness by now. "Oh, we're ready for the next reading!"

* * *

Mira had her own personal tower/fortress in Deadman's Port. Floor one was the lobby, and also the first line of defence. In the event of attack, the secretary had a gatling gun built into her desk. Every guard was also ready to shoot a man for Mira Han. On top of that, the walls were thick steel, so even if someone tried to bring down the tower, they'd need to somehow hit it point-blank with a nuke or orbital cannon without said nuke or cannon getting intercepted.

Floor two was the armoury, complete with an escape route to the vehicle hangars which housed three prized archangels, on top of many less impressive vehicles. Shotguns lined the walls alongside all manner of other weaponry, legal and illegal alike. Every piece was neatly stored and polished to a high shine, with caches of ammunition stored underneath the relevant guns. Mira grabbed an entire box of shotgun shells as she swung past, and put them into her pocket dimension.

Floor three was the restaurant, complete with a semi-qualified chef that could apparently serve you anything as long as you had enough credits.

Floor four was the bar. And also the medical wing. Which was apparently placed there because of the bar.

Above that were the rooms for the staff to sleep in, and then Mira's personal floor, where only she and potential clients were allowed.

Mira had rattled all of that off with a truly proud aura, especially the part about the bar and medical room being placed next to each other. "It's genius- if you black out from drinking too much, then you only have to be carried ten metres, and if you've just gotten out of treatment you can get a beer with minimal effort. Truly, the architects at my disposal are masters of their craft!"

"I LOVE it!" Muradin announced loudly, as the group finally managed to trudge their way into the bar, spirits lifting. "Gotta take that idea back home, if I can remember it in the morning." He tossed his weapons under a bar stool and hopped up. "Alright, I'll save the hard drinking for when you lot get out of there. Got any ale?"

"You're paying!" Warned Mira, as she guided the rest of the heroes into the medical room. "Doc, got four for treatment."

"Aye aye, captain!"

About five minutes later, Raynor was ejected from the medical room with his arm wrapped in bandages and most of his other injuries fixed, minus a good chunk of his credits. Apparently 'free healthcare' only extended to Mira.

A further five minutes, and Lucio was sent out into the bar without his shirt or sonic tech, his leg wrapped in a padding and back covered in salve. The tech was left charging in the corner, where Mira personally insisted it wouldn't be stolen until morning.

In a testament to both her durability and the power of a nanite healing beam with some medicine to reduce pain and boost recovery, Johanna was only ten minutes behind Lucio, and came out walking on her own two feet with a borrowed white shirt. Valla was ten seconds behind her with a single band-aid over her cheek.

"Ah, gang's all here!" Muradin beamed, as the barkeep smoothly handed out five more glasses.

Johanna looked around. "We won? I'm afraid I only remember hitting the wall... Where is this place?"

"You're in Deadman's Port." Mira answered, taking out a flask and pouring a shot of vodka into her beer. "Take a seat, there's some things to explain."

Johanna got onto one of the stools, and stiffly leaned over. "Please, fill me in."

It took a while for them to recount the fight, even if it had only lasted for a short time. Raynor handled most of the storytelling thanks to his knowledge of the zerg, and his own natural knack for it. Johanna listened intently, occasionally prodding for a little extra information. Eventually, Raynor finished, and she looked over to Lucio. "Your kindness saved us all. I'll say words for your fallen friend."

Lucio nodded. "It still feels wrong- seriously, I barely knew her and she was willing to give up her life for me. Makes me wish I spent more time with her, y'know?" He sipped his drink. "...Makes me wonder if there's anyone else I might lose."

"Pour one out for her?" Volunteered Mira.

"Yep." Muradin put a golden coin on the counter.

Mira raised an eyebrow as the barkeep went for the shot glasses. "Are those... real gold?"

"Yep. We could always use an alloy, but you just can't beat that natural shine." Muradin put a hand in his pocket. "Plus, gold keeps its' value no matter where you are in the world. Or off it, apparently." The bartender put out a single shot in front of everyone. "You drink to the dead in your world too?"

"Looks like alcohol keeps its' value as well as gold does." Said Mira with a touch of darkness. "Probably the only thing that stops green mercs from dying after the first mission. Also the only thing that can kill an old merc."

"Aye. Lucio, you call the shot. You knew her."

Lucio took the glass, and hesitated. "...To Brightwing."

They downed the shots.

"I find it's always best to try and stay strong after you lose someone." Johanna said. "But you can't stay strong forever without cracking. Come, let's all just talk. About better times, about worse times. Old battles, new ones, whatever it takes to cope."

Lucio nodded. "You think we'll all get through this alive?"

"Us six?" Johanna looked around. "...Well, I am ultimately a crusader. Fated to fall in battle, for we won't step out of duty. Being hard to kill is much different to invulnerable."

"You will _not_ die." Valla stared at the table hard. "I refuse to allow that to happen. I did not hone my discipline to this point just to allow my allies to be struck down, and I will redouble my efforts for the sake of people I can depend on."

Muradin absorbed his glass of beer like there was a sponge under his beard. "Well spoken, lass. For what it's worth, you lot are pretty great. I'll stick with you guys until we go our separate ways, and you can trust a Bronzebeard to keep standing."

"I wish I was in a position to make such bold statements to all of you, but..." Johanna put a hand over her waist. "I failed, back then. Don't lose sight of your limits, people."

Raynor nodded. "You win battles through teamwork. I'd be pretty happy to keep fighting the good fight with you guys."

Lucio sighed, but smiled. "Glad I got you all. Hey, I'll try my hardest to be useful too. Let's get through this alive, maybe save some guys on the way. Who's in?"

"Ah, what the hell. I'll join your team." Mira added. "Tell you what- I am a lord now. Try and die near me if you need to, I'll have you back in a minute."

"What's the medical bill on that one?" Said Raynor semi-jokingly.

"Oh, let's just start at..." Mira pretended to think. "Fifty thousand?"

* * *

Matthew looked at the data gathered from the mages. It pointed to an area that was relatively workable, but they'd need to repeat the process again to narrow it down all the way.

"Your conclusions, Admiral?" Asked Jaina.

"Hmm... we'll need to do it again. The data is consistent enough to pick out an area, but space is vast and it seems we're far away. We'll get a lot closer before the repeat."

Jaina nodded. "I understand. But... we're all quite tired after today. We'd like a chance to rest."

"Hmm... I don't know if we really have the time to spare, but..." Matthew relented, and nodded to Jaina. "I'll place my trust in your knowledge. It's the least I can do."

"Thank you, admiral."

"You know..." Horner started. "This nexus, magic, Kerrigan reflecting one of the most powerful weapons in all existence... it all feels surreal. These last few week especially." He took out a seat, and pulled up a set of reports on his computer.

"I know what you mean. My people have engineering, but we truly thought that mortals couldn't ascend beyond the sky. Even the dragonflights can't go too far up. And your other technology- well, it's so refined." Jaina gestured to a screen. "We have automated machinery, but... compared to yours, it's no more complex than a shovel."

"Do you think there might be a purpose to this place?" Said Horner. "Beyond the inevitable conflicts when so many factions are forced together... Could there be a greater meaning to all this? Back home I was just focused on protecting the innocent, but I've been given a lot of time to think with the zerg reduced in scale so much."

"...A purpose, hm?" Jaina tapped a finger on her lips. "Maybe... maybe this place needs us, given that we stand against someone that managed to conquer a world in days. I'll say, that was something the shook me. We only have one world back home, the idea of it ALL being overrun so quickly is frightening."

"You could be right. If you're worried about Braxis, it wasn't very densely populated at all. Nowhere near a civilian world. Then again... when the zerg set eyes on something, then it's hard to push them back."

"...You mentioned they were a smaller-scale threat here. How many are there back in your world?"

"Innumerable." Answered Matt. "They conquered countless worlds, and they can produce new fighters in a matter of minutes if they have the resources. At least here, Kerrigan hasn't been going after new territory openly. If she played this conflict on the large scale... well, we'd have to kill her in under a week or she'd spiral things way beyond what our army can handle."

"And I thought demons were bad."

 **Author's notes: Ahh, some interactions. Crucial to giving the characters character. Feel free to leave a comment anytime!  
**


	12. Chapter 12: Ominous

Lucio became vaguely aware of a bedsheet stuck to him, before waking up fully and remembering the drinking last night.

He'd kept things casual, or at least casual enough for the hangover to pass soon. He hoped. At the very least, he felt like he knew the rest of the group a lot better, having traded stories with them all. Lucio took a deep breath and moved the cover off, telling his body to sit up before he could think about the action too much.

"Ah, morning!" Muradin looked over, chipper. He was holding a glass of water. "Thought you might need this, considering how Valla was!"

Lucio blinked groggily and took the water. "Thanks, man."

"Dwarf. Ah, anyway. Looks like the plan is to stick around here until the other heroes find us. You want ta go check out the training grounds later?" Muradin slapped on a shoulderpad and started buckling it. He'd already been in his chestplate, raising the question of if he'd slept in armour.

"Valla?" Lucio sipped the water. "And sure I'll go do some training. Just let me get a shower and some breakfast."

"Ah, Jo's still working on getting her out of bed." Explained Muradin. "Just a bit too much whisky, ha!"

In the neighbouring room, Valla clamped her pillow around her head and rolled over. Johanna sat watching dutifully, occasionally whispering in prayer that they'd be able to explore the tower together.

Valla clenched her teeth. "Hells, I can endure being stabbed or burned with ease, why not this?" She hissed into the pillow, keeping sunlight from reaching her eyes at any cost.

"You are not to blame for your constitution. Some can handle drink. Some cannot." Said Johanna softly. "Can I bring you anything?"

"..." Valla gave the pillow a crushing grip. "My clothes."

Johanna noted the neatly folded pile of red cloth at the end of the bed, several plates of armour next to it. "I was about to have them cleaned, if you'd prefer that. You're more than welcome to take mine if there's a pressing matter." She said as innocently as she could. There was a moment of amusement as she noticed Valla's cheeks go red.

"Are you not sworn against flirting?"

"I have taken many vows, but none concern who I choose to show affection to." Johanna answered. "Anyhow, I'll wash them myself, it won't take long." She reached over and grabbed a second neatly-folded pile of white clothes, before placing those next to Valla, and swinging into the bathroom.

Valla reached out and gently drew in the pile of garments, wondering exactly how Johanna managed to maintain such standards. It was time to get up, she knew that. No drink would stand in the way of staying disciplined.

* * *

Brightwing had felt at a loss for where to go at first. Exploring was an enticing prospect, but she didn't quite feel comfortable moving around the leviathan when it held so many dangers. Diablo could be out there. But more than that, she needed someone to interact with. She'd always been incredibly social, and infestation hadn't changed that.

So, nervously, she'd found her way back to Dehaka. This time at the ship's nerve centre. "Um..." Words withered inside her mouth instantly as he looked back.

"You, seek me?" Questioned Dehaka. "Your essence is, strong enough, that you can collect."

She finally managed to unblock her mouth. "Brightwing was... um... lonely."

"Do not understand."

"Want person to talk to. Please..?" She added hopefully.

Dehaka looked back to the nerves, and spoke. "Follow, ship of Stukov." He looked back to Brightwing. "Why, do you, want to... talk? Do you seek information? Instruction?"

Brightwing felt herself shrink back. "Just talk."

"...Strange. I, do not have time, to, idle. Must sedate Diablo. Must collect essence."

"Brightwing, um, wants to ask question." She fluttered in the air. "...How are you not scared? This all scary. Don't like being scared, want to be happy."

Dehaka had been moving to leave, but paused. "You, must adapt. Learn, to survive- to change as you must."

Brightwing took a nervous exit, grappling with the words.

* * *

Greymane watched Kel'thuzad float out of the spellcasters' room. He eyed the lich, arms crossed. "Oh? Tired?"

"Never too tired to expand the scourge." Kel'thuzad immediately answered. He clicked his fingers, and a spiky ball of ice floated between them. "Would you like me to prove it?"

"Oh, you can try." Greymane made no move. "I'm VERY confident in my quick draw. Have you seen what a ball of lead will do to your skull?"

"A very basic assumption you're making is that it will reach my skull." Kel'thuzad grinned- an impressive feat for someone who had no lips. "Could there possibly be some manner of magical defence on one of the scourge's most powerful liches?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Greymane brushed a speck of dust off his shoulder. "But I digress. Was the spell successful?"

"...You're that curious, hm?"

"Don't push your luck. I should just ask Jaina, really."

Kel'thuzad folded his hands. "Thanks in entirety to the immense powers and wisdoms granted to me by my liege lord Arthas, I can say that-"

"We've located Mira? Good."

"Wh- insolent... I didn't even finish!"

Greymane smirked a bit. "It's never a good idea to monologue. Even as a king."

"You are _most_ insufferable, dog. You are standing before the archlich of Naxxramas, and you think to interrupt me, and lecture me?!" Huffed Kel'thuzad. "If not for our situation, I would shatter your blood."

"Perhaps. If not for our situation, I think we wouldn't talk very much."

"The same can be said of most. Now, are you going to hound me all day with meaningless words, or will that be Uther's job? I have been meaning to show him what _wonderful_ care I've been taking of Mr Menethil's urn."

"I will be your assigned watchman today." Admitted Greymane.

"...Blast. It's more fun to taunt someone you killed."

* * *

Thrall looked around, and then shut the door of the room. Rehgar grabbed a chair from one corner, while Gazlowe folded one out of the bottom of his robot. "I've been trying to find out what I can about the mission we were given..."

"Mission?" Asked Rehgar. "I had honestly forgotten, with everything that happened."

"We gotta kill or recruit whoever's leading the zerg." Gazlowe prompted. "Which I am starting to think might be more trouble than it's worth. I am NOT being paid enough to go up against all those things."

"Kerrigan is certainly our target. I do not know if we can overcome her, three as we are. Nor do I believe we could sway her to our cause- she is legendary for her betrayals. She's been the death of so many from this world that I truly don't think the horde should ally with her, even if opportunity arises."

"Then we will find a way to beat her." Rehgar said sternly. "I refuse to back down, not when the horde is counting on us."

"Agreed." Thrall said. "And that's why I think we need to form a temporary partnership with the Alliance, and with this ship's admiral."

He expected his two fellows to recoil at the idea, or shoot it down, or at the very least for it to be a tough sell.

"Sure thing." Agreed Gazlowe. "No point just throwing our lives away against those things."

"You are right, Thrall. We can't hope to take on the swarm with two orcs and a goblin." Said Rehgar. "Earning the respect of these otherworldly people through feats on the battlefield would be a more effective plan than just moping around waiting for a chance to do something. Maybe we can influence their decisions, with enough time."

Thrall picked up his hammer, and held it firm. "Then I shall speak with Varian. I'll see to it we're at the forefront of the next battle. Rehgar, I will leave it to you to make sure I'm not betrayed. Gazlowe... hmm..."

The goblin smiled innocently, making the arms on his robot fold behind the head. "Eh, I could use a break!"

"...Find out what tactics we need to use against these zerg."

* * *

It had been a full 24 hours since Brightwing awoke, and the initial bout of confused horror had faded, leaving her nervous and wary, but no longer scared witless. Now felt like a good time to explore.

So off she went, resolved to have a look around.

Gravity inside the Leviathan was somewhat low. Jumping off the floor and sailing into the top of the room with a harmless bump managed to spark a bit of enjoyment in her. Spreading her wings, she flew onwards, along branching paths, staying high above where most of the zerg were on the floors, and skirting far around some of the other strains.

She got hungry again, and this time killing something was easy- no more difficult than it had been back in her homeworld, before all this.

It was around then that she finally noticed... the zerg were scared of her, for the most part.

She bared fangs at a zergling.

It ran.

It was almost like flipping a switch, but suddenly the fear and nerves were crushed under the resurfacing playful nature that even infestation hadn't managed to truly remove.

"Come back, haha!" She called, scrambling after it with tongue hanging out. Scaring the life out of things was a surefire way to make herself feel better.

She swept around a corner, watching the zergling scarper into a swarm of others, and survival instinct kicked in, halting her. But she did feel a lot better after a little chasing. With another flap, she went off, into the rest of the ship, wary of danger and yet more and more comfortable with each passing second.

The feeling of being in this leviathan, where she could kill and chase as she pleased...

She felt like she belonged here more than the Hyperion. For a moment, she wondered why she'd stayed there.

Unbidden, memories of Malfurion's understanding, Illidan's harmless irritations, Lucio's kindness, and so many people she could chatter at ran through her mind.

She looked around again, the fun mood she'd been slipping into disappearing. _How could I forget about them so quickly..?_

* * *

Mira spent the day cleaning out every individual millimetre of her armour, then having a nice powerful shower and heading down to the shooting range. Paperwork lined her desk, but she knew there was enough time for some self-care first.

She was expecting to find at least one of the heroes down here practicing. She wasn't expecting to find all of them.

Raynor seemed to have taken over as firearms instructor as Valla nailed targets from a hundred metres away with a rifle. Johanna provided a spot of polite applause, while Lucio cheered a bit.

Valla took aim, and shot a second, more distant target.

"Why, you're a natural!" Raynor said. "Maybe you should think about keeping this thing up?"

Valla glared down the sights, and put the safety on the gun before dropping it down. "It seems like a workable weapon, certainly very deadly, but I question the capabilities of dealing with larger numbers of demons. Although the range increase is good, I do also need to bear in mind the encumberment... and lack of magical properties."

"Ah well." Raynor looked over. "Hey there, Mira."

"Didn't expect to find you all down here." Mira grabbed one of the practice rifles, and took aim. "Not shooting today, Raynor?"

"Oh, I was showing the others how it's done. You want to see how match up to me?" Offered Raynor, picking up a sniper rifle from the corner of the room.

"Ah, sharpshooting is just a hobby of mine. I just use a shotgun and move faster than whatever managed to get close."

"Risky tactic, but... you do you. Here, watch this." Raynor brought up the rifle, and after a mere second fired, scoring a hit on the most distant target. "Still got it."

"Showoff. I only came down here for some late-night relaxation, don't you go making a competition of this." She took a pistol and blasted the closest three targets in quick succession. "Valla, why don't you give this one a try? It's a favorite of mine on this range, nice and accurate but easy to wave around."

Valla set down the practice rifle with almost military practice, and took the gun off Mira. "Hmm... it's lighter than my crossbows, still no magic... but..." She pointed it and fired at the closest target, hitting off centre. "A different flight path, too. I'd need some time to adapt to this, but it might be a useful addition to my arsenal."

"Oh, mind if I have a go with your crossbow?" Asked Mira casually.

Johanna flashed a warning look. "I... think it might be better if you, ah..."

"You may not."

Mira shrugged, and shot another few times. "So, how long do you think it'll take before Matt turns up and we all get thrown against the zerg again?"

"Matthew is a nice reliable man, I'd give it another twelve hours." Said Raynor confidently.

"Wanna bet?"

"...Fine, ten credits." Said Raynor. "Hey Lucio, you want a turn shooting?"

"I'm good. Muradin?"

"Well, sure thing! Pass that here..."

As Muradin awkwardly tried to work out how to use the modern rifle compared to a dwarven musket, Lucio sat back. This was a nice place. He did wonder about the outside of the tower though. After living in the streets of Rio while Vishkar sat high and dry, he didn't want to accidentally become the thing he'd stood up to.

But still, Mira and the rest of this team were all great people.

* * *

The Hyperion warped into the general area of Deadman's Port, but there was still a significant amount of space to cover. From the bridge, Matthew looked out into the darkness briefly, before returning his attention to his latest visitor. "So, you're actively volunteering to be put onto the front lines?"

"Yes. We cannot stand aside, or we will all be crushed. Teamwork is a necessity." Thrall explained.

Horner nodded. "Very well. I'll make sure you and yours are the first considered when I'm looking at deploying heroes to help the marines."

"Excellent. Do not let our abilities go to waste."

"I shall try my utmost. But I may need to use you a few times to understand your capabilities, so please have patience."

"...Very well. I'll expect to fight soon." Thrall turned to leave, when a console started pinging with an angry red light. "Is that an alarm?"

Matthew stepped over to the computer urgently. "It's a warning. Our scanners have picked up a zerg presence."

"It seems we shall prove ourselves shortly, then." Thrall added.

"...We may not need to engage them. Our only objective is to find Mira, and they might not have succeeded in that task either." Reasoned Matt. "Regardless, Adjutant, ready the marines for deployment. Thrall, Rehgar, Gazlowe- if there's an orbital engagement, you know about the dangers of space."

"It'll kill us. We are aware." Confirmed Thrall, taking hold of the Doomhammer and exuding inspiration. "Come, brothers! Let our enemies be destroyed with elemental rage!"

As he left the room, Matt ordered one of the crewmen to fly them closer, to try and see exactly what the zerg were up to. He feared there was only one thing in this area they could possibly be concerned with...

* * *

"We've successfully located Mira Han thanks to my newfound abilities." Kerrigan's voice called from the nerve centre. "Once we have the planet surrounded, then we need to capture it as quickly as possible. It gives her less chance to escape, or worse call for reinforcements."

"I understand." While he made no motion to express it, Dehaka was impressed at the sheer speed with which Kerrigan had managed to accomplish such a feat. It had been only thirty of her hours, and she'd pinpointed her prey across billions and billions of miles of space. "What, is my, role?"

"I'm leaving the finer details to Stukov. I need more time to try and create a way home, and even with only a fraction of my normal forces I'm sure we can overrun Deadman's Port. I'm stepping out of this conversation now."

Kerrigan's voice disappeared from the nerve centre, and a russian accent replaced it. "We have four hours to prepare, and then we'll strike, while the natural light on the world is low. Come to the Aleksander for a detailed briefing... and bring those reptiles you infested. They should make for valuable assets."

"Will be there, soon." Dehaka said, before leaving the room.

It wasn't hard to find Diablo. The rage and demonic energy within him was impossible to conceal, and while he was undoubtedly capable of outdoing Dehaka in both strength and smarts, his chance had since passed. The infestation no doubt left thim confused while he adapted to a new mindset in which he too could feel fear, and his defeat at the claws of the zerg had hard-written into him that he couldn't oppose them. Dehaka found him crushing a hydralisk against the wall as slowly as he could.

"Stop."

Diablo cringed, and dropped the Hydralisk. The fury he emanated was almost tangible now, fear aura stirring Dehaka's urge for fight or flight, but it wasn't quite enough to overcome him.

"Follow."

Obediently, Diablo fell into line behind Dehaka. "I should destroy you."

"You, cannot."

Diablo growled, but the sound petered out, as if he found himself unable to try and challenge Dehaka.

Finding Brightwing was a little more difficult. Without the inner rage consuming her, and a healthy survival instinct then blending into the pack was entirely possible. Advanced tracking was needed to find her. Smell was a great option outside the leviathan, but there were too many other zerg here for it to pick out individuals. No, the way he could find her would be by looking for the one thing she had that the rest of the swarm didn't: Magic.

Detecting a force that is entirely absent from your world is difficult. And at the same time, easy. Dehaka was still an absolute novice in the field of magic, understanding only that it was capable of more than he knew. But he'd felt enough to at least recognise the traces, the subtle difference it left in the world. And like a bloodhound, Dehaka went into the depths of his leviathan and into a tiny, secluded niche, finding his target waiting. She watched him tensely, ready to try and dart off at a moment's notice.

"We, must go to Stukov's, ship. Fight, approaches."

She nodded, and got into the air. The moment she laid eyes on Diablo, she flew back. "...Do not trust!"

Dehaka looked forwards. "Does not, matter. We, go."

Reluctantly, she followed. They made it to the nydus worm that served as a transport to the outside of the ship before she spoke again. "Brightwing does not like Diablo. Nasty. Full of mean."

Diablo stood tall and chuckled. "You know that the moment I am free, I shall rend you apart. The day is inevitable..."

"Stoppit!" She hovered back, and bared teeth.

"Ha ha ha... Your fears course within you, consuming your mind... you could never hope to so much as trouble me..."

Like a whip, Dehaka lashed out with his tail and hit Diablo in the eye with the barb. Diablo staggered back and roared in moderate anger, before again his free will withered. "Do not, waste time."

Diablo grunted, moving a hand over the blinded eye while it regrew. They went through the Nydus.

For her own peace of mind, Brightwing found herself staying much closer to Dehaka than Diablo during the ride. They were spat out on board the Aleksander, and she was once again reminded of the Hyperion. For an infested vessel, the hangar of the ship was relatively clean. Creep covered the walls and tendrils were laced around the doors, reinforcing them, but the floor was metal. Perhaps to help with the launching and landing of small ships?

The corridors again had a much different aesthetic to the leviathan Brightwing had been starting to grow accustomed to, metal with reinforcing tentacles and large patches of creep in areas. However, it didn't feel all that alien to her, after the last few days.

She went past zerg, too. Unlike the primals that had some slight resemblance in body type to animals she knew, these ones were all unquestionably humans that were zerg at the same time.

Curiosity rapidly won out over apprehension. "Hey, what are you?" She fluttered ahead, posing the question to a random infested terran.

"For... the swaarm..." They managed to get out, before pushing past.

"Huh? Hey!" She called. They didn't react at all.

Dehaka weighed up his options, and decided it would be faster if he explained. "Infested Terrans. They, have not been infested, to your standards. Little mind remains."

Diablo eyed one of them, but let it be. Brightwing looked on at them sadly. "Little mind?"

"Thinking ability, restricted." Clarified Dehaka.

She fell silent.

"Come. Cannot waste, time."

They made it to the bridge of the Aleksander without any further incident. The doors to the room were guarded by a pair of infested that stood straight with some modicum of intellect. It was a testament to the craftsman's skill that the doors retained an imposing presence even after decades of use by officers and even infestation. A specially treated wooden facade covered two inches of highly tempered neo-steel, with the lightning skull of the UED military woven into the patternwork of the metal uncountable times. Dehaka had no problem pushing them open, although even he would have needed a while to get through had they been locked.

Stukov was in the middle of a war meeting, Zagara leaned over the great table in the middle of the room as Stukov used the touch screen on it to draw up a battle plan. He stopped and stood straight to greet his other commander. "Dehaka. A little slow."

"I, am ready. There is much essence to collect..." Dehaka looked down at the war map. It showed a region of desert, a city in the middle. "Your, plan?"

Stukov zoomed in a little, and gestured to the city. "Deadman's Port has been positioned to prevent ground assault from any non-frontal direction. That is true of most forces, anyway. But as it stands, Zagara will be in charge of the main attacking force. She simply has to strike as hard and fast as possible with zerglings and hydralisks, while landing to prepare a second wave of stronger zerg to mop up any survivors left after the first three hours."

"A simple task." Summarized Zagara. She turned her attention to the two heroes behind Dehaka. "...These must be the newly infested. Would they not be of greater use under..." A few spines slid out from her throat, primed to fire. "...my command?"

Dehaka dropped into a combat stance. " _Mine._ " He snarled, staring at Zagara's face.

There was a momentary standoff as Dehaka rejected Zagara's challenge of authority. Stukov looked on in a combination of boredom and professional disappointment. He was about to remaind them of his rules regarding infighting, when not a second after the spines had been bared, Zagara turned into a sheep.

It didn't last for that long. Zagara had the mental strength to fight off magic, and reappeared as Brightwing spat a bolt of magical energy at her. She dodged, and it hit a swivel chair on the far side of the room. Unlike the chair in chapter one, this chair survived the blast.

Stukov snapped out of watching, and raised his voice. "Halt!"

Zagara halted. Brightwing didn't stop for a moment, but Dehaka stuck out an arm and barred her from going in for more.

"Very well, I'll concede them to you." Zagara said tautly.

"If I didn't make it clear enough to anyone, you will NOT fight while you are on board my ship!" Stukov said angrily. "This is my domain, with my men, and I won't let it be damaged by your squabbles."

"..." Dehaka regarded him silently.

"She started fight!" Brightwing said indignantly.

"While turning her into a sheep was amusing, you have damaged one of my chairs. I cannot replace such an object. If I were a petty man, you would be given very unfavorable treatment for that." Warned Stukov. He brushed his jacket, and looked back to the table. "Now, as for the matter at hand... Dehaka, you will approach from the back. Your goal is to take out the power station, and then push through the back of the city. Use your new units as you see fit."

"...And are you too afraid to step into the fight?" Questioned Diablo.

"Far from it. As soon as the power station is down, its orbital defences shall fail. That is when I will drop directly into the city, and aim to infest what I can to strip the targets of manpower." Announced Stukov. "However, there is a chance the orbital defences will have backup power supplies. In that case, we will have to approach the walls and bring them down the old-fashioned way. Dehaka, if the turrets on the walls do not deactivate, then aim to break through from this point." He gestured to a section of wall counterclockwise from the main entrance.

"I see, and then in that case, you will attack here?" Zagara pointed to the opposite location.

"Correct. Now, here are our drop zones..."

Dehaka studied the plan carefully, but could find no fault. Charging into a battle so deadly as this went against instinct, but he knew it was necessary. Survival ultimately lay only at the end of this path. Amon had to be killed, regardless of the detours they made on the way.

* * *

"That's Deadman's Port..." Confirmed Matt, looking at readings. They were as far away as they could be from the zerg without risking detection. If Overseers were sent out to scout space, they'd be in deep trouble. "It looks like the zerg are preparing for an assault."

He turned to his adjutant. "Percentage chance of victory in a spacefight?"

"Negligible." Answered the adjutant. "Serious enemy numbers renders all pre-programmed strategic routines ineffective."

"Right... Dammit, if only the protoss were here we could take them." Matthew looked at the table, assessing his priorities.

Save Raynor. Keep Mira out of Kerrigan's hands. Don't lose the Hyperion.

"..." One option presented itself, but he didn't like it. "Adjutant... please page Jaina Proudmoore."

Could he manage to pull this off? Magic was the one tool he had that could give him an edge here. But he didn't know the limits. He didn't know Kerrigan's capabilities- only that she'd reflected the Purifier Beam, so they were probably enhanced.

Either way... Deadman's Port was about to have to defend itself from the Zerg.

 **Author's notes: A lot of zerg this chapter. Do you think I gave Kerrigan decent motivations, or is she being too aggressive? Is everyone in character?**

 **We'll be going into Dead Man's Stand next chapter, but trust me- the fic is very far from finished!**


	13. Chapter 13: Dead Man's Stand

Mira Han was lying in bed. She loved her bed- it had pillows in the exact same shade of pink as her hair, a duvet cover with her face on it (gifted by her secretary on her birthday), a small fridge underneath that always had one bottle of rum and one grenade, and if you lifted up the headboard there was a rack to put her shotgun onto.

A pinging alarm started to sound in the corner of the room.

Despite the fact it was the dead of night, Mira's eyes snapped open and she was out of bed and in her armour in under a minute, shotgun in hand. She grabbed a radio from her dresser. "What's the emergency?"

No sarcasm. No jabs. If the alarm was sounded, it was serious.

"Zerg." Said the voice on the other end of the radio. "I've never seen so many- they're dropping down about ten clicks out, just outside the range of our defences."

Mira swore, and grabbed her goggles before kicking her door open, making for the stairwell. "Sound the louder alarm."

A siren started blaring throughout Deadman's Port.

* * *

Lucio woke up first. He was a light sleeper, and he recognised the fact that a siren meant trouble, even if he was asleep. He sat up, hearing the wailing noise cry through the city. "Uh... Muradin... any idea what that is?"

Muradin snored.

"Muradin man, get up." Lucio reached over and shook the dwarf. "Come on!"

Muradin rose from his sleep like a zombie. "Whut?"

"Alarm. Not sure what for but it sounds pretty bad." Lucio explained.

"Right." Muradin threw off his covers, revealing that he didn't sleep in his chestplate, he slept with it next to him. His axe was stored inside. "Get yer stuff on."

Lucio hurriedly pulled on his shirt, and clipped the Sonic Amplifier to his waist before sliding on his visor. He opened the door to see Valla and Johanna already waiting in the corridor. Even if Lucio had woken up first, they were the experts in quick preparation.

"What's the emergency?" Asked Valla.

"No idea. Let's find Raynor." Lucio answered. As soon as he said the words, a third door opened and a bottle of beer rolled out.

Raynor stumbled out of the room, carrying his rifle. "Well, looks like I shouldn't have gotten drunk. What's going down?"

Lucio looked down awkwardly. "We were hoping you knew."

"Nope! I'll just get shooted up. Suited up." Raynor slurred, dipping back into the room.

"How... how much did he..." Murmured Johanna. "I saw him drink as much as Mira last night. Does he have a problem?"

"I mean, he did apparently love Kerrigan once." Said Muradin. "Guess he's probably still trying to forget!"

There was some clattering from inside Raynor's room, as everyone waited around for a few seconds. Mira came running down the stairs before anyone could suggest they go and look for her, or someone else that would know what was going on.

"Ah, there you all are!" She said brightly, holding her gun. "Zerg attack, let's all get to somewhere we can shoot at them and try to keep them out of my city."

There was a muffled shout from Raynor's room. "Leading from the front, hell yeah!" The door was kicked open, and Raynor, now in his power armour, leaned against the doorframe.

"Wow, I think the air in there might actually trip a breathalyser." Remarked Mira, standing a little too close to the room. "Come on, with me! Believe it or not Raynor, it can be fun to blast stuff while you're drunk!"

"Lead the way!" He confirmed, holding his rifle solidly.

Mira obliged, taking everyone down the stairs. By now, she knew her staff would be readying the Archangels for deployment to the field, and the huge mercenary army at her disposal wouldn't even want to be paid for wiping out the zerg if she played her cards right. Perfect.

* * *

 **Ten minutes ago...**

There was a gentle puff of dust as Dehaka put a foot on the hard ground. He had to move in first, to destroy the power station. Zagara would be providing a distraction shortly, but it would be best if he got close first.

This was a delicate task. He had needed to tunnel very precisely to the boundary of the city. Picking a spot to emerge had been done by Stukov, who'd selected an abandoned section of outer wall. So long as nobody was in the mood for dumpster diviing at midnight, the chances they'd be spotted were slim.

He quickly checked his forces. About fifty primal underlings of various assortment. Hardly an army, but a reasonable hunting pack. Add in Diablo's extreme capability for destruction, and Brightwing's... wait.

"Dim your, lights." Instructed Dehaka. The green patches of her wings, antenna and eyes were all illuminated like her blood was glow stick juice. What survival advantage this provided, Dehaka couldn't fathom. She'd have made a decent rallying point in a large fight, but right now they were trying to be stealthy.

"Aww. Thought they were helping." Brightwing's various body parts dimmed, lowering the pack into darkness. "Can Dehaka still see?"

"So many unaware mortals." Murmured Diablo. "Such terror I shall unleash..."

"Quiet." Instructed Dehaka, turning his attention to the city. Breaking in shouldn't take long, he just needed to wait for the signal...

A few minutes passed, and the alarm went up. Like clockwork, Dehaka and his pack moved for the wall and started digging under it. For most life, that was an arduous task that would have taken days. But working harder than any machine, the pack burrowed under in a matter of moments, filing through the tunnel.

Emerging into a clear area, Dehaka looked around. No guards... yet. Speed was the key now- they couldn't evade detection for long. "...Generator. We must, destroy."

There was a skeleton crew of guards operating. Some had been instructed to stay and guard the plant in case of this exact scenario, but they'd been placed there to head off one or two foes. When zerg rushed into the corridor they were guarding, there were a few screams of fright, one or two gunshots, and silence as they were ripped apart.

Brightwing looked around frantically, trying to see where the shots went. "Pack hurt? Will heal!" A light pulse of magic went through the air, and Dehaka noticed a wound close on a hydralisk, realising one of his members could provide healing to the entire pack.

Well, now his numbers were just overkill.

* * *

Mira reached the bottom of her tower, and jumped out into the street. "Oh, Driiiveeer!" She hollered, as the five heroes with her filed out. Her shuttle turned its lights on and honked once, as she and the party ran over to it. "Get us to the front gates. We'll help head off the assault there."

"Aye aye, ma'am." The driver slammed his foot down, and everyone bar Mira was pressed into their seats by the G-force.

They sailed through the streets, seeing bands of mercenaries coming out of every alleyway and building armed to the teeth. The front gates were sealed shut when they pulled up, but a few sentry towers with railguns were online at the top, as well as a plethora of vantage points to shoot from.

"You see those guns?" Mira pointed up to the guns on the walls. "They'll blow up anything that could actually knock down the gates, so let's all just-"

There was an abrupt silence as every streetlight died. And the guns on the walls all stopped moving to target.

"Power cut?" Asked Lucio.

"Oh, that ain't good." Raynor added.

Mira suppressed the urge to punch a hole in the shuttle's dashboard. She clapped her hands together and took a tight breath. "Change of plans. Driver, take us back to the tower. If you have to run someone over- do it."

Without even a confirmation, he slammed the accelerator hard enough to push Mira down into her seat.

"What's at the tower?!" Shouted Johanna.

"Backup generator!" Mira explained. "I'll need a few minutes, but hopefully whatever caused the power cut doesn't know the backup generator is in the tower!"

* * *

Stukov watched telepathically. An easily exploited function of a hivemind was using it to see through the eyes of others. With sufficient brainpower to process the information, you could even use your zerg as real-time cameras. Overlords were the preferred unit for providing a battleground overview, but in a battle you sometimes needed to just see whatever the zerglings were seeing.

In this case, that his window of opportunity had arrived. Dehaka and Zagara had played their roles to plan thus far, and the cannons on the walls were inactive.

"Men. Prepare for drop in five seconds."

Another benefit was that you could assign complex commands to your units, and as long as they knew what to do, they could execute that command flawlessly most of the time. Although navigating unfamiliar terrain, or tasks that required thinking properly could be... embarrassing.

In exactly four seconds, Stukov's shock force of two hundred infested loaded themselves into drop pods. Stukov got into his own drop pod that contained a lot of equipment. The size was uniform, to minimise the chance it were prioritised.

'Deploying!' Stukov's mental command rang into the Aleksander, and the five pods were sent hurtling towards the planet.

Dropping your Commanding Officer behind enemy lines was normally frowned upon by militaries. Even the zerg. Stukov, however, had a very specific role to play in his own plans. The others could handle infesting any foe not suitably protected. He was here to pin down one Mira Han.

Falling took longer than you might personally expect. It took almost a minute and a half, psionics accelerating the drop to speeds that burned the outsides of the pods. Once they were close to the ground, the psionic thrust reversed, and the outsides of each pod inflated with gas.

They hit the ground as fast as a runaway train, impact cushioned exactly enough to split each drop pod open. Infested spread through the streets like organised wildfire, a few running to Stukov's pile of equipment to grab Vultures or grenades.

Stukov had twenty men attend him, and ordered the second wave to prepare for deployment aboard the Aleksander.

* * *

Dehaka and his forces were sticking to the shadows of the dark streets now. The main role they played was over, now it was just a matter of causing as much chaos and disruption as they could.

"Is that... captain infested?" Asked Brightwing quietly, as Stukov's pods impacted and he stepped out.

Dehaka nodded once, and guided them down another alleyway. They came to the base of a watchtower in the wall, and Diablo chuckled before whispering something unintelligible towards the top. Then, without pause and in complete silence, he started to scale the side of the wall, claws digging into the metal like it was nothing more than butter. He was very clearly enjoying himself, as he scaled to the top, and the entire tower was illuminated in a giant blast of fire and lightning, briefly casting a glow over the streets.

The mercenaries were trapped in a circle on their walls. The zerg had control of the town's ground level, abandoned almost entirely. Stukov's plan to infest his foes to bolster his numbers was working with great efficiency, overwhelming small pockets of resistance quickly.

But they were not without losses. Dehaka watched as a rocket streaked from one of the points on the wall and blasted a contingent of infested into nothing but fragments. A few of the unfortunate groups of mercenaries on the streets were fighting back with desperate bravery, and scoring kills.

He moved his pack in close to one of the pockets of resistance, encircling them in the darkness. With one flick, he snatched a merc away with his tongue, and the rest of the group gave in to complete panic. When the rest of the pack jumped them, the end was swift.

There was a roaring of engines. Dehaka ducked down behind an abandoned car, and a shuttle zipped past, thrusters scorching the pavement. Mere moments later, a vulture bike shot past, in hot pursuit.

Brightwing looked on in wary caution. "What is next?"

Dehaka listened closely, observing to try and find his next target. He spotted Stukov running towards him, with many men in tow. "Stukov." He called out, staying hidden. "Do you, have, the singularity?"

Stukov stopped. "Ah, you're alive. Mira is fleeing to her tower. I'm moving men in through her hangar, you take whatever forces you still have and attack from this street." He pointed straight ahead, the road leading to an open area with only a few small buildings, a large tower in the middle. "I'll take the other road."

"...Yes." Dehaka looked ahead, checking his forces. Some had inevitably died, and unlike Stukov he wasn't contsantly replenishing his numbers off his enemies.

Brightwing looked ahead "Can we win? Brightwing think... maybe..?"

Dehaka was too busy devouring every corpse in sight. Mustering forces up was still possible. He just had to use a very energy-intensive trick that he normally wouldn't bother with.

The zerg are not limited in their options to create new zerg. At all. Infestation, assimilation, mitosis, eggs, in Kerrigan's case she could focus enough psionic energy into a spot to turn the water in the air into solid matter. Although that was impractical. The primals, even less so. Most had at least one option.

In Dehaka's case, he seemed to vomit out about four or five more zerglings after eating.

"Ew." Commented Brightwing. "Can I do that? Always want more friends."

Dehaka made a grunting noise, and slunk back into the cover of darkness. "Let us, collect..."

* * *

The shuttle slammed to a stop, and Mira leapt out and kicked her own front door down. She stuck her head into the lobby and yelled. "EMERGENCY PLANS, GO!" She then turned around and looked to her team of five heroes. "Alrighty, I'm going to go and turn on the backup generator. I've got missile nests and my men in all those nearby buildings, don't let the zerg into my house, go." She ducked back inside, leaving her door swinging.

"It seems it's up to us to defend her." Johanna said simply, before taking stock of the houses and buildings around Mira's. One nearby house, with a few armed men stepping outside, and a little beyond some walls and alleys there were two more that were now under armed guard. "Raynor, what does she mean by 'missile nest'?"

"She's probably got folks with rocket launchers in the houses under guard." Raynor said. "Hey, I'm just a sad old drunk, but I reckon we should step out a bit and defend the outer walls. Now c'mon, let's go crack some heads!" He tried to pump his shotgun, but was carrying an assault rifle, diminishing the 'cool'.

Johanna decided to assume the role of tactician, given Raynor's inebriated state. "Valla, you work with Muradin again. Take that narrower street, place some snares if you can."

"I shall see to it." Valla ran off ahead, Muradin jogging after her.

Johanna took stock of the slightly wider street left for her. "I think we can hold them by those houses. Just let them surround me, while you pick them off."

Raynor raised a hand. "Uh... you want to be surrounded? And shot at?"

"I can handle it." Assured Johanna. "Come on, we can't let the tower fall!"

Lucio hopped from foot to foot. "Hey, what about me?"

"Both fronts are gonna need healing..." Raynor murmured. "I reckon it would be best if you hung around in the middle and just dashed over to anyone that needs you."

Johanna shook her head. "I know that seems like a good plan, to be more reactive, but there'll be less need for a healer if he's always contributing. Go and help Valla, please."

"Gotcha."

Raynor watched him go. "We should talk strategy sometime, huh?"

"You're not bad for a drunk, but I know what I'm doing. Now, we really need to get into position." Johanna grabbed Raynor and ran for the wider street.

The houses had some lights on the outside, but it was impossible to see into the darkness beyond. A fair amount of smoke had risen, making it hard to pick out targets. The guards filling up the defensive house looked at Johanna uncertainly as she stepped onto the front line.

"Uh... miss..?" Asked one.

"Worry not." Johanna put her shield up. "I have faced these foes before."

Shambling but with running speed, infested terrans emerged from the smoky night. A gatling gun opened fire from the upped balcony of the house, mowing down a few, but more plugged the gaps it cut, and in mere moments they were upon Johanna. She slammed one down and whipped another in the chest with her flail, before a wave of golden energy crushed the rest towards her.

Claws and tentacles rained on the crusader, finding no chink in her armour. Raynor had half a mind to ask 'how?', but settled for just shooting at the targets as she pulled them in.

More and more swarmed forth. A few slipped past Johanna. One of the mercenaries went down, a single unfortunate blow from an infested's arm hitting his face and breaking the skull.

Raynor was shooting for thirty seconds, but it felt like a timeless hell, where failing to notice one foe would spell the death of an ally. Strangely, his drunken state helped. He felt no fear for his own life, just trying his hardest to fight the good fight.

The first assault seemed to end.

* * *

Stukov watched from a distance. The attack should have tired out the defenders a bit, and had given him a good idea of what he was up against. Dehaka's forces were lurking around, trying to find a way to ambush Valla's trapped zone- but that woman's snares and caltrops had guarded it thus far.

'Zagara. Are you in the city?'

'My broods are closing in on your location. The gates are down.'

'Send your forces at my target. I'm going to distract them while you get into place...'

Stukov's mind dipped out of that conversation, turning to one of his lieutenants. One of the key points of his plans had been to snatch away as much enemy firepower as possible, to prevent anyone actually doing anything about his attack. He did worry this would let Mira slip away, but Kerrigan had assured him they were going to catch her regardless with pursuit tactics. Mira couldn't run forever. The zerg could chase forever.

'Benjamin, start preparing the bombardment from the first Archangel.'

'Yes... Admiral...' There was a cough from the infested that carried across the hivemind conversation, but seemed to clear his train of thought. 'Building up the scourge barrage will take a few minutes.'

'Understood.' Stukov tapped out of that conversation too. The archangels had been a lucky acquisition. He had no doubts Mira would manage to destroy this one if she scrambled forces, but it should give his forces a marvellous window of opportunity.

* * *

Mira was distracted from her efforts to kick-start a large old generator by a pinging alarm from her secretary. She picked up her radio. "What's the problem?"

"Our Archangels are infested. We've lost track of two, and one is... targeting us..." Crackled the voice of the secretary.

"I see. I'll just make a call." Mira switched channel, to the tower's intercom. Then remembered it had no power, and went to her guards. "Good news everyone, you've seen off the first wave. But... one of our Archangels has become infested. In a few minutes, it will bombard our base with scourge and kill us all." She rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry?"

She went back to her efforts to start the backup generator. She could have sworn she'd had the thing kept in good condition, but every time she pulled the cord it would chug a bit and then fail to start. Infuriating! It had enough diesel! It was oiled! It wasn't too hot or cold! Why wouldn't it start?!

In frustration, she kicked the bottom corner of the machine.

There was a tinkle, as the set of ignition keys fell off the top of the generator and skittered underneath it.

Mira grappled with the urge to slap herself in the face.

* * *

Dehaka watched from a distance, as Valla and Muradin pulled away from the defences. He'd been hesitant to engage fully for the moment, without the resources to actually zerg rush the position he'd just thrown in some of his irreparably wounded units to test the defences. Maybe he could have taken the house if Valla hadn't plastered every angle of approach with traps, apart from the direct approach where you'd be running at rocket launchers with no chance to dodge.

But without those heroes guarding the area... Maybe he could rush them down regardless.

Why were they retreating though? A trap? "Brightwing. Fly upwards, check area."

"Okay!" She rose to a greater height, looking out. Nobody seemed to be looking up there, the darkness again offering safety. After a few moments, she descended. "...See big machine. Humans running for it. Looked all infesty."

A genuine distraction, then. "We will, rush, the enemy. Diablo. Brightwing. Use, other zerg, for protection. Ready?"

"Wait." Brightwing said quietly. "Um... from the air... saw human that looked like friend. Brightwing is not, um, doesn't want to... hurt him." She stuttered.

"Then destroy this before he can return. Swiftly..." Dehaka trailed off, looking ahead. A low growl seemed to reverbrate even through the chaotic noise of the battle, and the zerg around him stirred, tensing up and preparing to charge.

Brightwing hesitated, but joined in. The way seemed to be to destroy this fortification before Lucio got back. Although she couldn't ignore the fact that she felt conflicted now. Standing against former allies. If she did this...

The pack charged, and the chain of thoughts fell apart. She went with them, mixing into the sudden tide of black and purple.

Guns fired, and a lot of them were torn apart before ever reaching the fortifications. But they reached the fort in force, and at that point it was already over for the inhabitants. Even without the rest of the pack, Diablo alone would have been able to topple the defences, crushing a wall with ease and lighting the structure on fire. He'd been hit with a storm of bullets as a larger target, and hadn't been affected by them at all.

She saw Dehaka get shot a few times, but the bullets didn't seem to cause him pain. They bit into his flesh, leaving wounds that bled just a little, healing before her eyes and pushing out the spent bullets. Then she dived out of the way of a rocket fired in her general direction, reservations about fighting vanishing completely. She threw a blast of arcane magic out, and rushed in to bite.

A few of the defenders fled. Most were devoured.

"Retreat." Instructed Dehaka. The effect was immediate. Without hesitation, every one of his zerg turned and ran back into the dark streets, even Diablo. The defensive point was left as nothing more than a smouldering wreck.

* * *

Bringing down the Archangel was no easy task. Lucio knew that if the guns on that thing hit anyone apart from Johanna or Muradin then they'd be torn apart like tissue paper. Even Johanna was taking a pounding from the gigantic vehicle, shield dented.

Raynor pulled a secondary trigger and a penetrator round shattered the cockpit of the machine. It kept functioning regardless. "We need to bring this thing down, fast!"

"How?!" Yelled Lucio, jumping up onto the wall to avoid a small bomb. A few bits of shrapnel zinged off his legs, but nothing serious hit him.

Valla vaulted around, letting out a nonstop barrage of arrows. Wood normally would have splintered harmlessly against the colossal vehicle,T but every bolt punched right through thanks to the enchantments.

Raynor suddenly seemed to light up. "Hey, cover me for a second!" He put a hand to the side of his head and rolled his visor down.

Lucio had a few seconds of panic as his wave of Amping It Up ran out, knowing Johanna couldn't possibly take much more. She staggered back as Muradin went back in, but... _We're not gonna make it._

 _"_ Let's break it DOWN!" He slammed the floor and a barrier of energy covered his team, fading quickly. Every second they didn't die counted. Every second was a moment they had to try and find an answer.

Another blast went off, too close to Raynor. Lucio skated over, and before he got close he tripped on the hole of the previous blast, hitting the dirt with one shoulder. He scrambled to get back up, and caught a glimpse of the night sky.

A shooting star went past. The sheer unlikeliness of seeing a comet seconds before your death, and such a pretty golden one too, almost got Lucio to laugh.

Wait.

That comet was falling directly towards them.

The level of unlikeliness increased a hundredfold. Briefly, Lucio wondered if he was going to be lucky enough to have his enemy get obliterated by a random chunk of rock that had probably been floating through space for aeons. Then a voice rang out. A familiar voice, that of an ethereal man.

 _"EMBRACE JUDGEMENT!"_

The 'shooting star' did actually hit the Archangel directly. Or rather, the actual Archangel of Justice hit the mechanical Archangel hard enough to punch through the roof, landing on his feet with sword in hand. His armour was glowing red with the burning of entry into the atmosphere, yet the iconic hood was still pure white. The machine clanked, and collapsed behind him.

"Yooo, Tyreal!" Called Lucio from the floor. "Sweet move!"

"Thank you, mortal." Tyreal nodded, floating off the ground and moving forwards. "We apologise for our lateness. Board the medivac, we'll reconvene at your tower."

Raynor rolled the visor up. "Whew, close call. Nice to know Matt's still got his good timing."

A medivac came down, landing in the cleared area. The back opened up, and Tyreal floated in, closely followed by the rest of the group. Lucio sat down on one of the benches and the widest smile found it's way onto his face. "We're alive! Man, Ty, I thought we weren't gonna make it. Owe you for that."

Morales lifted the Medivac off the floor, flying for Mira's base. "Glad to see you alive, soldiers. We couldn't stay in orbit with the Leviathans up there, but Jaina was able to warp them elsewhere. We've got an hour or two before they get back."

"Good on him." Raynor hung onto a handrail. "Any reinforcements?"

"We've got a full squadron down, bolstered with heroes." Morales answered. "They're waiting at the main tower. Hopefully we can fend off the zerg long enough to evacuate the planet." She pulled the Medivac into a turn in the sky, bringing it down. "All out. I'll be running transport for the battle. Good luck!"

"Let us proceed." Tyreal stepped out of the vehicle with the rest of the exhausted team in tow. Lucio's battered spirit soared as he saw a ring of marines in blue power armour surrounding Mira's tower, recognising Thrall, Rehgar, Gazlowe and even Gul'dan among them. "We return." Announced Tyreal.

"Ha, with all you guys here we can't lose." Lucio said earnestly. "Thanks a ton, guys. I'll keep you safe."

"It's not all good." Thrall warned. "The outer defences were destroyed while you were fighting that machine. But we will hold the line here. Not one foe shall go past."

There was a crackle, and the streetlights came back on. Everyone looked around in slight confusion, before the tower intercom rang out with Mira's voice. "Okay! Backup power grid is online! Just hold out for a bit, I've got a plan!"

"You heard her!" Cheered Lucio. "We're winning this battle, count on it!"

* * *

Stukov regarded the illuminated streets with concern. So there was indeed a backup power supply for this place. Dropping in more units would be difficult, although Zagara's army had arrived. Now was the time to throw an onslaught at the target, before they could fortify the area more.

There was no complex command for this. 'Zagara, launch a full attack!'

'For the Swarm!'

Stukov watched intently as waves of zerg went past him, enclosing on the tower. Experience said that there was no way such small numbers of defenders could repel this attack. Even Protoss high templar wouldn't be able to destroy them all with psionic storms before they were overrun.

But caution doesn't abandon a man who has endured dying twice. The enemy had unknown variables. They'd brought down one of the Archangels.

Speaking of which. 'Lieutenant Benjamin, prepare the remaining Archangels for Scourge bombardment.'

'Admiral... there seems to have been some kind of...' Another mental cough. 'Remote shutdown. It will take some time before the infestation can break it.'

'With the electricity restored, the enemy have gained a lot of new tricks. Work quickly, Lieutenant.' Commanded Stukov.

His assault impacted. There was another defensive house situated in front of the tower, but it should fall quickly...

Stukov watched and waited. But the swarm wasn't making a dent. Flashes of what was undoubtedly magic burned through waves of his units, consuming them with uneasy green fire. The occasional crackle of lightning mixed in, bouncing around. They were somehow holding the line.

Stukov grumbled. This was difficult, but not unexpected. He had more tricks available to increase the pressure on his foes. He reached out through the hivemind again, to a few infested that he had covering his back on the streets. 'Find Dehaka, have him flank the enemy through those alleyways.'

That should hopefully break the enemy line. But there would still be more. Without the ability to drop in more units, priority fell to defending the two remaining Archangels while they prepared to blast the base with Scourge.

* * *

Lucio was recuperating well after the first frantic few minutes. Enough to tend to Johanna and Muradin a bit. "Whoa there Jo, you just stand back a bit. Gul'dan's holding the zerg back just fine."

Johanna leaned on her shield, watching the line of firing marines. A wave of flying zerg came in, but a bolt of lightning blasted them into ash. "...Very well. But ONLY until I'm healed." She looked out at the battle carefully, as the dents on her iron skin started to fade away.

"You gotta hand it to Gul'dan over there. He might be evil, but he's doing a good job!" Lucio said positively.

"...Don't romanticise what that orc has done. The deeds I've heard about are far worse than you can ever be redeemed from." Warned Johanna. "Tens of thousands died for his machinations."

Lucio nodded. "Pretty bad. I'll be on guard, but he is still our teammate for now."

"Very well, then. I think I'll be ready to get back to the front in a moment." Johanna stood straight, strength recovered.

"Great to hear! Tyreal could use a break, too."

Johanna chuckled and hefted her shield. "I don't know how you stay so upbeat amongst this carnage, but my spirits are lifted. Let's- WATCH OUT!" She pushed past Lucio and covered him with her shield, as a hydralisk spine hit it.

Lucio jumped back to see a group of zerg flowing through a gap in the wall, gate broken down. They were suddenly trapped in a circle.

"Hold the line!" Shouted Johanna. "I shall deal with them! Valla, to me!"

At once, Valla vaulted into position and started firing into the incoming pack. A lot of the marines hesitated, unsure where to shoot, but the main assault was easily ten times the size of this flanking force.

Johanna let out a war cry and ran straight into the incoming enemies, as Lucio trailed in after her, keeping her healed. It wasn't easy. She slammed everything that dared get close, and did it while appearing to take no damage herself. Lucio struggled more, but the promises he'd made two days ago were real. He would keep her supported.

Valla was no exception to the rule, and was truthfully the main source of hope. While Johanna kept the enemies from advancing too fast and Lucio stopped her dying, Valla killed. She fired and fired and never stopped. Things were looking good. They might be able to fight off the back attack.

Ten seconds played out as the fight resolved, ten seconds of chaos. Johanna wore down rapidly, but held strong to the last. She seemed to be infallible- But then something snatched her, pulling her off her feet. Lucio panicked for a second, trying to see what had done it, and saw one larger zerg in the heart of the crowd.

Valla, however, saw it too, and she reacted explosively. With a scream, she jumped forwards, burning with a black-red flame. She cast a hand downwards, and the flames of hatred splashed along the floor, incinerating a line of the zerg and washing over both Johanna and the zerg that had snatched her. Valla hit the ground and smoothly transitioned into firing a bolt at the target, bringing up her other bow and shooting again.

Johanna got free of the injured attacker, and hit them with her shield. "Finish them!" She encouraged, and Lucio skated in, helping Valla get into position to put an arrow through the skull of the target.

There was a wave of wind magic, and Johanna went flying back, landing on her feet and scraping along the ground a little. Valla buckled down and tried to resist it, but the magic swept her off her feet and tattered her clothes. Lucio ground to a halt in shock, as the few remaining zerg that had flanked them ran, leaving only the large attacker and...

"No way..." Lucio murmured. He held his gun down the smallest bit, but didn't lower it completely.

She was unmistakable, with her wings and tail. They held eye contact for a moment. Green to green. A visor to evolved irises.

Brightwing held her position for a moment. "Friend?"

"You're _alive?!_ " Lucio said in near disbelief. "But... why are you fighting against-"

A crossbow bolt flew past Lucio, and hit Brightwing in the shoulder. Dehaka got up, and got into a defensive stance.

What happened next only took a single second. Dehaka fired Isolation at Valla, and hit. Brightwing dropped back behind him, hiding the wound in pain. Johanna covered Valla as she dropped back in blind panic.

"Escape." The order from Dehaka was clear and stern. He dived down into the earth as if it were as easy as water, while Brightwing flew back, and glowed for a few seconds. They slipped away in mere seconds, leaving the three defenders exhausted.

"Valla!" Johanna caught her. "It's okay."

Valla was splattered in some kind of grey putty that seemed to be choking her. Johanna frantically scraped it away from her mouth, and Valla took a deep, gasping breath. It persisted for a moment before whatever kind of biological reaction it was burned out, and it melted off in grey lines.

Her skin ran with a lattice of purple marks where she'd been hit. She weakly grabbed Johanna's hand, and coughed. "I'm... not dead."

"Hold on there, heal up." Lucio amped up his technology once more, worrying it would run out of power soon. "...You sure you're okay? Not going to turn into one of those infested?"

"I'm-" Valla broke down coughing. "Ugh. I've been better."

"Stay here, friend. You can watch our backs, in case they try that again." Johanna carried Valla over to the back of the fort-house, and gently set her down against the wall. "I must return to the fight. Please, stay safe."

Valla nodded numbly, still fighting off the effects of the attack.

Lucio looked at her with a conflicted grimace. "...Valla..?"

"Yes?"

"...Nah, not right now." Lucio shook off the question. "Don't die, okay?"

 _Why did you shoot?_

* * *

The tower's intercom called out again. "Two Archangels this time! _Two!_ Ugh. I still need a little more time, my plan is warming up. Get out there, bring them down. Counting on you, okay?"

Thrall panted for breath, holding his hammer tighter. The wooden handle was beginning to splinter, but would last the rest of the fight.

Gul'dan had been sent with them by Matt. It was an honest mistake, but that didn't make it any less revolting. However, the warlock was more than pulling his weight. Fel fire was a horrible thing, but could burn through crowds with ease. Ideal for this situation.

Lucio skated up. "Okay guys, it looks like we need to split up to bring these guys down. Valla's recovering right now, Tyreal's gonna help guard the base, and Morales is gonna carry us back once we clear the area, so that's two teams of four. You guys better working together, or you want me to swap for someone?"

"...Hey, take Gul'dan." Gazlowe called. "We could use that, uh... shooty guy."

"Raynor, you're up!" Called Lucio.

"Ready to roll." Raynor walked over, and nodded. "Thrall. Nice to have you."

Lucio slid over to the front, wasting no time. "Alrighty Gul'dan, we've got an Archangel to bring down. I'll keep you patched up for this. Just follow me."

Gul'dan brushed his cloak off. "Very well... let us see if you are capable of witnessing my power."

Lucio beckoned Johanna over, the crusader giving the warlock a stinkeye. Muradin completed the impromptu team of four, and they ran off into the night.

Streets were lit, and the zerg assault seemed to be weakening. They encountered pockets of resistance in the ruined streets. Much greater dangers were undoubtedly out there, but the Archangels were relatively close. Lucio's speed boost was invaluable, letting them reach the more distant of the two threats quickly.

* * *

Stukov grit his teeth. He'd thrown more than enough zerg at that position to utterly wipe out any normal squadron. But those magic flames were more than he could possibly have anticipated.

Okay. Simple answer. Just kill the caster. The heroes were being forced to go ahead, away from the safety of fortifications in order to destroy his Archangels. He could realistically win by either killing them OR stalling them.

But how to accomplish those goals? He was low on units. Zagara would have another, larger wave of zerg ready soon, but for now she only had token forces available, guarding Stukov's position. Dehaka wasn't dead, but his forces were depleted entirely and he was wounded. Although Diablo was still in fighting condition, a mere ten metres away from him, so maybe...

Well, it seemed like the only option. Timing would be everything. "Diablo." Commanded Stukov. The demon turned his attention from Dehaka to the admiral. "Unless Dehaka wants to fight, you're coming with me. We'll deal with them personally."

"What about the weakling?" Diablo gestured back to Brightwing, who was halfway through pulling the arrow out of herself.

Stukov took one look and dismissed the idea. "Exhausted and injured. Taking her would be throwing away an asset." He paused, looking through the eyes of his troops. "They will engage our Archangels soon. We will move in from behind, and trap them. Men, with me."

Wordlessly, his soldiers got up and followed Stukov as he headed out into the fray. Diablo followed him, leaving Dehaka and Brightwing alone in the forward base.

Brightwing finally got the arrow out, and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Dehaka had healed fully, but seemed far thinner than before.

She lay on the floor and half-shut her eyes. "...I did bad thing. Wrong thing. Hurt friends..." She shut her eyes fully. "Friends attack Brightwing. Brightwing attack friends. My friends... not friends anymore." She choked up. "Brightwing is... bad friend. Bad, bad, awful, bad..."

Dehaka regarded the zerg breaking down next to him. It would be far too easy to eat her here and now, but... She had helped with her healing. She had an actual, tangible value to the pack. And she'd protected him. So he put aside the notion of using her to reconstitute. And thought about what to say. The words seemed elusive for a while. The incorrect ones would probably make her worse. But he found what he needed. "I, accept you."

"I..." Brightwing looked confused for a moment. "Huh?"

Dehaka shifted a bit, trying his best to assume an unintimidating but not submissive demeanor. "Useful, ally. Willing to, offer, some, trust."

"...You will be friend?" Asked Brightwing hopefully.

"..." Dehaka was hesitant to accept without knowing the meaning, but the phrase did seem associated with a symbiotic relationship, which wasn't a bad thing. "Yes."

"Thank you for being friend." Her words overflowed with relief, above all else. "Brightwing needed that. Very much..."

* * *

Stukov walked at a steady pace with his men. He couldn't afford to accidentally be spotted, but there was nowhere to hide. He just had to keep a good pace and be ready to encircle his enemies the moment they were preoccupied.

It was going to be a tricky but devastating move. Done right, he could secure these four kills while Diablo went for the other group, and at least one Archangel would remain standing to eradicate Mira.

The sound of the miniguns on the Archangel blazed through the night, and it was clear that they'd begun their struggle. Stukov mentally told his available forces to fan out, and prepare to move in.

'Three... two... one.'

Stukov watched them charge in, and released a healing pathogen to bolster their durability. It was an ability well-suited to his large numbers of men. As they charged in, Stukov walked purposefully, preparing a weighted pustule. Securing even one kill would be a major accomplishment.

Two orcs were harrying the Archangel, striking with lightning at even the smallest opportunities. A goblon kept deploying turrets. Raynor himself was shooting at weak spots over and over.

His infested rushed in. Raynor had the quickness to gun down a few, before the Archangel's fire forced him to duck for cover. Thrall and Rehgar stepped up to duel the soldiers, while Gazlowe distracted the mecha. Thrall's attacks were impressive, and he was tough as nails even after a long battle, but Rehgar... his healing powers had been focused on the others too much. Even as he won his fight with the infested, striking with a wolf's ferocity, he couldn't conceal his tiredness.

Stukov made a battle sequence on the spot. He fired his weighted pustule. It sailed a good few metres and hit Rehgar with a nasty squelch. He made a command to the Archangel to unleash whatever it's best attack would be. He stepped away, taking himself out of danger. Thrall saw the attack coming, and all of them started getting ready to dodge.

Acid began spraying everywhere, and the four of them ran to get out of the splash zone.

Stukov pulled his hat down in respect with his one human hand, and executed the last move of his plan. The pustule detonated.

Rehgar was suddenly bogged down, unable to move. Thrall had no chance to react. Raynor and Gazlowe were out of reach. The acid hit him with enough force to shear metal.

Death was instant.

Stukov didn't stay to watch the aftermath. That Archangel seemed too damaged to save, and he doubted he could get another kill. He just walked away with his small, valuable victory.

* * *

Diablo's method of approach was wilder, fiercer. Where Stukov had carefully thought ahead to secure a kill, he fell back on his natural domain- scare tactics. He sent the few men Stukov had assigned him ahead to defend the Archangel (how ironic), and with an unshakable confidence he slipped through the alleys and rooftops as Lucio guided his party to their destination.

Fear came in many forms, and all were at Diablo's beck and call. Unease at first, fear of the unknown.

Then the fear of adversity. His targets were all too experienced at handling this, charging into combat with the Archangel and its' few guards without hesitation.

Then there was his second favorite. Panic.

Diablo charged in, and relished the looks on his enemys' faces as they realised the battle had swung against them. He made a show of grabbing Muradin, before slamming him against the floor once and then throwing him towards the Archangel's feet.

Muradin somehow managed to roll out of danger, and spat at Diablo, even as Lucio and Gul'dan backed up to a less dangerous position.

"Jo, distract the machine! We'll handle this guy!" Lucio called, staring down Diablo. "Come on!"

Diablo let them approach. Muradin charged him, and with one brutal uppercut Diablo grabbed him, and flipped him over his head. Lucio skated around him, trying to bother him with his sound gun. Diablo stamped a wave of fire out.

Gul'dan cast a hellfire upon Diablo, fel flames burning at the zerg tendrils. The attack seemed to have little effect, even if Diablo felt it dearly. Muradin clashed against him, trying to hold his attention, but the demon charged for one of the two softer teammates.

Gul'dan was sent sprawling, about to be crushed when Lucio blew Diablo off him.

"You okay there?"

"I..." Snarled Gul'dan, getting to his feet. "Will... Erase you." He stamped, and held out his hands. Lucio had a sudden urge to stand back, as a black orb of magic appeared. "Vanish into the Darkness!"

Diablo didn't know what to expect from the spell, but when his world turned black, with only Gul'dan visible...

He knew it wasn't an attack.

* * *

Morales flew around, as she saw the two Archangels fall. Things were going to plan. Or at least, the enemy's plans were being ruined. The city burned below her, unspeakable carnage wrought. It would never be the same, without doubt. The death count, unknowable.

She brought the medivac in for a landing by the first group, and opened the door. Three people stumbled in, Raynor guiding one.

He put a hand on an orc's shoulder. "Thrall. Do you want to retreat?"

Thrall sat despondently for a few seconds, before muttering "No." He shook his head. "Never."

"...Alright." Raynor nodded. "...The battle looks like it's coming to a head. If Mira doesn't have some kind of plan, then we're leaving anyway."

Thrall let the Doomhammer fall to the floor with a 'clunk', and took a breath. "Of all the things I foresaw, this was not one of them. But nonetheless, I will fight to the last. Lok'tar Ogar. Victory or death."

Morales leaned back. "Oh dear. Have we lost someone?"

"It's Rehgar." Supplied Raynor. "Got caught by an acid blast. Look, don't worry about that right now- go get the others, before they lose someone."

* * *

Lucio stared at the empty air, as the Archangel machine crumbled into scrap. Gul'dan seemed to have just... vanished. And Diablo with him. Winning the fight without their main source of damage had been difficult, but not impossible.

The medivac came down, and opened the door. Muradin boarded quickly. Johanna came up beside Lucio.

"Do you think he actually died?" Asked Lucio.

"...It's hard to say with demons. Come, let's get to safety."

They got onto the ship, and it took off. Lucio slumped into one of the chairs, while Johanna lowered herself down on the handrail. Muradin was already sitting.

Raynor looked at the trio. "Glad to see you guys are alive. No Gul'dan?"

"No. He just kinda... vanished. Right in front of us." Lucio shrugged. "No idea if he's dead. Probably not, given that Brightwing is somehow alive."

"Wait, what?" Said Raynor. "The lizard?"

"Yeah. Looks like she's with the enemy." Lucio said, drained. "...She, uh... well, I dunno if she was going to attack. Valla kind of shot her arm."

"Best not to trust the zerg." Advised Raynor. "I've gotten burned one time too many, I think. Anyway... uh... hate to break it like this, but we lost Rehgar."

"The shaman? Dammit." Lucio drooped. "...This has got to be awful for you, Thrall. I'll come check up on you once we get out of this. Help you do some last rites if you need a hand."

Thrall looked surprised at the offers. "That... would be appreciated. But for now, let us finish this fight. I will repay them in blood."

"We're coming in for a landing, but I see trouble." Called Morales. 'Trouble' was a bit of an understatement. A tidal wave of zerg seemed to be approaching, more than they could possibly hope to repel. It was a full-fledged zerg rush, numbering in the tens of thousands. Zagara was nothing if not a quick worker. "Lotta zerg out there. Maybe we should have Mira get the portal open."

She landed the medivac, and everyone got out. Lucio fidgeted a bit with indecision, and then ran off for the tower. Mira couldn't be allowed to fail now, after everything that had happened.

He only got halfway there, before the intercoms crackled. "Okay! I'm about to activate a psidisruptor that my people... ah, acquired. It should wipe out every zerg in the port. I can let it off at any time, so everyone just fall back!"

Lucio got into the lobby without complaint, shortly followed by the rest of the heroes. It got crowded very quickly, unease regarding the situation hovering over all of them. Could it really be this simple?

* * *

Stukov heard the word 'Psidisruptor' in the distance, and had to stem a sudden twinge of fear.

Where the hell would Mira have gotten one of those?! Even the Dominion struggled to manufacture them!

That was a moot point, though. She had no way of knowing there were any enemies capable of listening down here. And she wouldn't try to bluff, since Zagara could afford to just lose this army she'd whipped up in an hour or two.

That left him stranded in a city about to be hit with a pulse that would make his brain pop like bubble wrap.

Nothing out of the ordinary, all in all. Stukov ran over to the nearest vulture bike, jumped into the seat, and slammed the accelerator. He'd probably make it to the edge of the city in time. If not, death would be a welcome break from his particular brand of suffering. Although he knew he'd return...

Either way, the outcome was looking good. He leaned back a bit, as the vulture sped towards the gates. It was a fine bike, hitting a hundred miles per hour without so much as a rattle.

Now would come the much worse part. Explaining to Kerrigan how this backwater city managed to repel an invasion of this magnitude. Stukov made a grumbling sigh, and sped on out of the gate.

There was a gigantic blue flash behind him, followed by a splitting headache. Stukov's control on the bike wobbled, and with an unlucky slip he rolled the vehicle, catapulting himself across the desert floor at speeds that would have reduced most men to a smear. It took him a full ten seconds to slide to a stop.

Stukov blinked, as the headache receded, and let his head bump into the ground.

"...More of this? Bah."

He shut his eyes, and slowly got up.

* * *

Brightwing blinked. "What was that shiney, friend?"

Dehaka was suddenly standing at full alert, looking out into the distance. "...Psidestroyer. Have, seen, before. We must go."

"Huh?"

"We, are not affected... Mostly." Dehaka moved a claw over his larger shoulder, a trickle of blood running down it. "But, psionic minds. Destroyed. We, have no other zerg. Dangerous to stay."

Brightwing nodded, looking at the arrow lying on the floor. She looked up and Dehaka and tilted her head. "Well, friend..." She giggled. "I think we should run for our lives!"

* * *

"We've done it!" Mira jumped up and down, punching the ceiling once and ending up wholly disappointed she didn't break a lightbulb, so she clapped her hands together.

She went running out into her lobby, seeing the group of confused but relieved heroes. "Oh, I could kiss every last one of you!" Her eyes fell upon Valla, who was giving her a 'Don't-you-dare' glare even in her weakened state. "Except you. You go over there."

 **Author's notes: Whew, this chapter is a pretty large lad. And will have plenty of fallout. However, writing it all took a bit out of me, so I think I'll give an update or three to my other fanfic. Story's still far from over though!  
**

 **Yeah, people get their abilities from other games too, like Dehaka's weird ability for vomiting out extra units in his SC2 campaign mission, or Valla's snares. Just not abilities they wouldn't have in their current incarnation (So no Focusing Iris Jaina, or Flaming Zombie Wall Nazeebo.)**

 **Leave a review!**


	14. Chapter 14: Soothing Agony

Matthew saw a blue sphere blossom around Deadman's port from his position in orbit, and didn't hesitate to radio Raynor. "This is Matthew speaking. Is everything okay down there?"

"Yeah, we're good. Mira's running a psidisruptor. Or... might be a psidestroyer. Not sure. Anyway, what's the plan, man? Looks like the zerg can't get into the city, at least for now."

"Well, we need to get out of this planet's orbit, one way or another." Matt looked to Jaina, who was currently lying on the floor with Uther praying over her. She was unconscious, and almost seemed to be flickering with the occasional pulse of reverbrating magical energy. "We were able to get control of this orbit by teleporting the zerg away, but it won't take them long to return. Originally, this was going to be an emergency evacuation of anyone lucky enough to survive, but... permission to land?"

"I'll ask Mira. She'll probably be okay with it, so start moving in case the zerg get back faster than expected." Raynor closed his channel, leaving Matthew to witness the cost of his plan.

The magic users he'd had available had offered to cast a forced warp on the zerg to clear space for him to move in. He'd gladly accepted, but... the consequences of casting a spell so powerful were plain to see. Jaina had taken the worst of it, and nearly died. Kael'thas was drenched in sweat and sitting in the corner, his cape crumpled. Kel'thuzad had left the room, almost keeling over.

"How is she, Uther?" Asked Matthew. "Her spell made our victory possible, but I had no idea it could have such consequences..."

"Truly, I don't know how the mages managed to cast on that scale." Uther said. "Perhaps the zerg don't know how to resist the spell? Because believe me, if that had taken as much effort as it normally would to forcibly return things to their home, it would have needed more power than... I cannot express how much effort that spell would have taken. It is beyond my knowledge." Uther took Jaina's pulse. "She'll be okay."

"Thank goodness... I'm sorry for leaving her there, but I hope you understand that I had to pay attention to the battle."

"Just be careful what you ask for from her in the future. Jaina... she is not normally so reckless." Uther watched her stir, still in the recovery position.

"I'll try and thank her properly once she wakes up. For now, I have to oversee our landing."

* * *

Escaping the city wasn't too dangerous for Dehaka. True, most of Mira's forces had been trapped on the walls and now completely surrounded him, but the streets were covered in huge amounts of debris that made it easy enough to stay semi-hidden. And the walls around the gates had been completely cleared of defenders, having been hit with the very worst of Zagara's wrath.

The night was still dark, growing darker. The entire assault had lasted for under an hour. The streetlights around the entrance had all been destroyed, allowing them to simply walk/fly out.

The fight was over. They'd done everything exactly to plan, but the end result wasn't in their favour.

"We should retreat to, starting location. My leviathan will, be sent down." Dehaka instructed, as they walked out into the open lands. It was dusty out here, flat ground with a few rocks and boulders. The dust had already wiped away the tracks of Zagara's strike force, leaving it eerily identical to before the attack.

"Why not go to others? They have lots and lots of friends, very safe."

There was a second of confused pause. "...We would be killed. You know that."

"What?" Her voice was filled with confusion.

"Without any numbers, we cannot overcome Zagara. She would take, the chance to kill me, so that she has less, competition."

"...Did not like her. Like her less now." Mused Brightwing. "What about Captain infested person? Uh... Stukoff."

"Stukov is... strange, for a zerg. Does not, try to gain power and opportunity like some queens." Dehaka seemed to think about the words himself for a while, searching for the correct explanation. "Queens follow Kerrigan, bound by hivemind. Cannot attack each other. But... compete. Desire survival, attempt to ensure through, usefulness, power. Stukov, is different... is careful to never, reduce the swarm's strength while gaining power. Grants others, wisdom. Advice. Strange... but, clever."

"Brightwing does not understand totally... What about you, friend?"

"I, lead the primal zerg. No hivemind. I am not, bound to Kerrigan. I will survive, and continue to survive for as long as I can. Zagara, dislikes that I could threaten Kerrigan. Could prey on her swarm. If, a queen could kill me, would be more likely to survive with Zagara's favour."

"Huh... Zagara is bad, then?"

"Trying to serve Kerrigan. Wary." Dehaka looked ahead. "We remain allies, only because of Kerrigan. Her power compels me."

"Confused... but... kind of get it. Very... um... weird. Brightwing want to talk to Stukov now. Sound weird."

"Follow me. We should not, stay here."

* * *

Mira stepped out into the streets of her city, the blue energy field of her device giving the town an unusual look, like it were trapped under a glass dome, or possibly underwater. Buildings were all either wrecked or outright destroyed. The streets were littered with exploded zerg that had been caught in the psi-destroyer. Even now, she had no doubts. It would never be the same again.

The sight of the port she'd spent so long becoming the boss of filled her with rage. It didn't matter how scummy a place it was, she'd invested time, money and effort into these streets, and now they'd been cleared out.

On the bright side, it did make it much easier for the Hyperion to land here.

The problem now would be rescuing all her thugs from the walls. Ideally without getting shot. Mira frowned as her mind ticked over. Even someone like her had to deal with the politics of getting attacked like this. She'd need to make everyone band together to keep things running and fix up anything that was essential to life. Hopefully the water station wasn't destroyed.

She went back inside, and grabbed a data pad. Taking care of a mess this big would probably take some modicum of effort and planning.

Her secretary looked to Mira uncertainly. "Ma'am... there's a battlecruiser coming down."

"They're permitted." Mira said offhandedly. "Listen, we need to get on top of the situation or I might get overthrown, so I need you to call up any men I have that are alive and have them find anyone they can save. Once you've done that, take this..." She tossed the data pad over. "And make a list of everything that needs to be fixed in the next four hours to prevent us all dying."

"Yes ma'am."

"Any questions, from anybody, have them report to me." Mira went back outside, and looked at the group of heroes. "Okay, everybody! We're alive, and we've got the Hyperion landing. If you could all get into groups and get out there, just try and find anybody that's still alive and bring them over here. I'll be here co-ordinating everything, so any questions, just bring them here. Ok, go."

"Where are we landing the Hyperion? Don't wanna bring it down anywhere we can't." Called Raynor.

"Oh, just drop it over there. Whole district's been flattened anyway." Mira said nonchalantly.

She watched as the crowd dispersed, heading out into the dim streets. Now just to think of a decent speech to wave away these problems, and to hope that no other ones arose.

* * *

An hour passed. Many heroes and marines had disembarked from the Hyperion, spreading out over the streets. Matthew had, much to Mira's joy, helped properly organise a sweep of the city for any lucky survivors.

Morales walked the streets. She knew she'd covered them twice. She'd found two people that could reasonably be saved with her medical skills. One had hidden himself underneath a pavement stone, which had been enough to conceal him from zerg that had more pressing matters. He seemed totally fine, if shaken to the bone.

The other hadn't been so lucky. Saved by a house collapsing on top of him. The door frame had been strong enough to generate a cavity he could survive in, but the massive amounts of stone and steel had been enough to crush an arm, and dust inhalation had nearly finished him off. But, with Sonya working to shift the rubble quickly, he'd been excavated just in time.

She'd regarded him with a sense of sorrow- she'd seen it all before. He'd be given a prosthetic of dubious quality, develop a cough and maybe a bit of mental scarring, and then have a hard life. It wasn't often people could just endure this kind of torture.

"We'll have to amputate the arm." She said. "I'll sterilise and prepare a torniquet, and then we'll get him back to the base to recover properly."

Hammer looked at the man with a bit of concern. "Hey, Rosa. Not to argue with the expert, but maybe some of the magic folks can do something about this?"

Morales paused. She'd gone through this routine more times in her life than anybody else her age. The thought of exploring this new avenue of possibility had slipped her mind. "...Maybe. It would be something of a risk, though. I'm not inclined to trust in the medicine of people who don't even know what bacteria are."

"Just keep a watch on them while they do it. Now, do we actually have enough time to get them back to the base with those healers or do need to get the arm off now?" Hammer wasn't freaked out by the injury. None of the heroes were, they'd seen worse.

Morales looked at it critically, and then at a scan from her suit. "We can do it." She leaned down. "Sir, we are willing to try something that will save your arm. Do you want us to proceed, or would you prefer I amputate it?"

"I can t-take it!" He stuttered.

Morales nodded once. "Okay team. Load up the stretcher, let's run him back. We want to avoid giving him any medicine in case it interferes with the procedures the other heroes have, so be careful not to jostle him. Li Li, can I ask you to run ahead and let them know we're bringing in someone with a crushed arm. See if there's anyone free who can restore it, and if not let me know immediately. I have a better chance of success the faster I act."

"Can do, Rosa! I know just the man!" Li Li sprinted off, clutching her staff.

Hammer and Sonya helped the casualty lie down on the stretcher, and Hammer went and got back into her tank while Zarya got ready to lift.

It wasn't far back. Only a few minutes of walking, although Morales could hardly contain her nerves. Her attention was split between Hammer's tank rolling along behind them and her medical readouts. By the time they finally reached the base camp, Li Li was waiting.

"Alright, I got Uther! If anyone can fix an arm, it'll be him!" She called, holding the old paladin by the hand.

Morales came forwards. "A building collapsed on it. The bones are broken in most places, worse than my beam can repair. I was going to amputate it, but I thought you might be able to fix it."

Uther looked at the person below him. "...I don't know. It'll never be the same again. It's seriously damaged. What can you do?"

"I can knit everything back together, and rearrange it a little, but I can't realign all this, and there's a lot of muscle damage."

"I see." Uther put his hammer down. "I shall ask the light to put the bones back into place. But undoing the breakage will be your task. Can you do it?"

"I will do my utmost. Do you need the area cleaned, or any anaesthetic administered?" Morales rattled off quickly. "And is your magic known to produce any unexpected reactions upon exposure to nanomachines?"

"The light can restore life to even a dead man if there is a strong enough calling. A little dirt will not impede it." Uther gently put his hands over the arm. A golden glow enveloped the area for a few seconds, and the arm started to actually look like an arm again. "...There. I cannot call on the holy light too often, but you can heal them now. I will place a little of my faith in you." He stepped away. "I shall pray for this wounded soldier."

Morales wasted no time in getting her healing beam ticking. She set every kind of data recorder she could to check that the healing magic had worked, and to try and see exactly how it had worked. Even for someone as firmly rooted in science as her, there was no denying what she had seen. "Okay, beginning bone structure repairs. Administering a mild anaesthetic, and monitoring vitals. How do you feel?" She asked.

"I... uhh..." The wounded mercenary looked at his arm. "It's not mush? What just happened? Who was that?"

"That was Uther the Lightbringer. It looks like the Nexus does have its benefits. No pains?"

The mercenary shook his head.

Li Li and Hammer watched. Hammer sat down on the rubble of the pavement, and looked at the scene. "Well, ain't he lucky!"

"I dunno. He did kind of just watch everyone he loves die. That's... gotta be pretty rough." Li Li said tentatively. "No matter whether you like fighting or not, large conflicts always have terrible things."

"You ever been in a war?" Asked Hammer.

"No. Uncle kept me out of the worst of things."

Hammer nodded approvingly. "Good guy. War ain't a nice place, let me tell you." She picked up a bit of the rubble, and tossed it into the night. "Still, you're handling this pretty well. Good on ya, panda girl."

"Thanks. I think we should all sit down for a cup of tea after, how's that sound? I could use one after all this." Li Li offered.

"Ha, sure thing."

There was a buzz from the tower's speakers. Everyone's attention turned to the building that had been able to survive the attack.

A few seconds later, Mira's voice started calling out. "Good morning, everybody! Mira Han here to let you all know how we're doing!" Hammer noticed the mercenary herself standing in front of her tower with a microphone. She was amazingly cheery considering the situation. Just how Hammer liked it. "So, first things first! We currently have no electricity, no water, minimal food stocks, and a shortage of good fighters. Thankfully, my lovely husband has landed his ship which can provide us with some power and water purifiers. So! About the zerg."

Mira pointed upwards at the sky, currently too dark to really make out much. "Four leviathans are up there, and they have ground forces surrounding us from every angle. The psidestroyer is currently linked to an old diesel generator, and as soon as it runs out they'll all collapse on us and we'll be eaten. But fear not, Mira Han has a plan! And it ends with Kerrigan's head on a stick, I'm sure you'll be pleased to know. Now, I can open portals.

"So I'll send you guys out to gather us more diesel or minerals or food, etcetera- while I stay here and we build an orbital cannon. Kerrigan won't leave us alone, so let's put that to good use. In the meantime, any extra reconstruction efforts towards my town will be rewarded. Now, aside from that, I'll be arranging a guard rota since all the old ones are dead, so don't go to sleep until you know when you're needed. Stick to my plan and we'll all stay alive and fed. Don't, and I'll kick you out of the city. Everyone clear? Yes? Great, I'll go get a board to put the guard rota on." Mira stuck the microphone back into her pocket, and went back inside the building.

"...Who the hell uses diesel?" Said Hammer.

Li Li shrugged.

* * *

Arthas looked up at the night sky. Dawn was breaking, but slower than Azeroth. He could just barely make out the outlines of two of the leviathans, above them in orbit.

Kel'thuzad was sitting on a chair of ice next to him, glow of undeath dim. The spell to temporarily fling those foes elsewhere really had drained him, almost enough to destroy his physical form. "I do wonder... just if we could turn them to the scourge's side?"

Arthas gave a small shake of his head. "They bear no souls. Not the lesser ones. And this is not yet the time to enact a scheme, my loyal servant."

"...But the leaders? At the very least, this 'Kerrigan' that I have heard about. What if we were to defeat her?"

"A worthy goal. But we have more pressing concerns. We must not fall. Let us gain the trust of those that we are currently forced to work with. Our ultimate goal is best reached with an army behind us."

"A knife cannot be buried in one's back if they never turn it."

Arthas placed a hand on Frostmourne. "I will entrust my safety to you, archlich. See that I am not betrayed. I shall see that we return to our fortress victorious, with new strength bent to my will."

"It shall be done, my king."

* * *

The demonic circle below Gul'dan fizzled out, leaving him facing Diablo down. They were in a dark room, in location unknown. For a lone orc standing before the infested Lord of Terror, Gul'dan was decidedly unafraid.

"You DARE drag me here?" Diablo shouted, voice twisted.

"I dare. I have a bargain to make..." Gul'dan grinned, fel energy dancing around his fingers.

"I have no need of your mortal power. Prepare to die!"

Gul'dan snapped his fingers, and green power surged around him in an aura of demonic power. "I speak NOT as Gul'dan!" His voice reverbrated. "I speak on behalf of the burning legion. If you will submit your forces to our will...

...We will grant you the power to destroy the nephalem."

Diablo hadn't seen such a golden opportunity to betray an army and take control since he let Kerrigan kill and infest him. _I could get used to this Nexus, if every week I can seize control of an entire species._ "I will accept your bargain... but would you make a pact?" He grinned. Trying to make a pact with someone so powerful as him would not end well for the mortal party.

"I shall. I bind you to me, Diabolos- you shall serve until we have conquered the Nexus." To his surprise, Gul'dan simply started channeling fel magic. Either calling his bluff, or very overconfident.

Or, the unexpected third option where Diablo was actually bound to Gul'dan's terms, at least until he fulfilled them. "..." It was like a tidal wave crashing against the demonic energies that formed Diablo, dousing them and making them burn with rage and fury even brighter at the same time. "...Very..." His voice dripped with bound anger, the unspoken promise that the second he fulfilled the terms, Gul'dan would have his heart plucked out and crushed like a grape. "...Impressive..."

* * *

Another few hours had passed, and both Brightwing and Dehaka were now on board the Leviathans, recovered fully. But, there wasn't yet time to rest. An infested terran had come bearing summons.

From Kerrigan.

And so, they made their way to her leviathan, until reaching the nerve centre. Stukov was already there, standing to attention. Zagara was off to one side. Abathur was absent. Izsha was hanging from the ceiling in the background, co-ordinating the four leviathans to keep a comprehensive orbital blockade over the planet. Deadman's Port was now under siege.

Kerrigan stood there, singularity glowing around her neck. "Dehaka. Still alive, I see."

"Queen of, blades. I, listen."

Kerrigan looked around the room. "Our assault failed, but I think our situation now is ideal. I can practice in peace so long as they don't break out, and once I do figure out how to get us all back to Koprulu then everything is concentrated in that one space below. So, my orders now are to keep them under siege. Stukov, if you can induce resource shortages or anything that will help keep them from trying to break out, then do so."

Stukov nodded. "Affirmative. If I may ask, how do you plan to stop Mira from opening a portal to get out?"

"She likes her town too much to just abandon it. But if she tries to portal Raynor or someone out, then I could use the practice in opening portals myself." Kerrigan smirked. "You've got full authority over anything Abathur has ready to use, as well as the other commanders. Have them ready to deploy at a moment's notice, I'll open a portal whenever I sense Mira doing so."

"Understood."

"Zagara, you need to make sure we've got an iron grip on that planet. I don't care if Amon himself shows up, I want us so entrenched that he couldn't retake it. Dehaka, you just need to always be ready for Stukov to call on you. Everyone clear?"

"Yes, my queen."

"I, comply."

"Good. Now leave me be, I need time to concentrate." Kerrigan gestured them out of the door with a hint of frustration.

Brightwing looked back at Kerrigan as they all filed out of the room, and then to the two other commanders that were travelling around Dehaka. "I..." _have heard nice things about you, infested human._ The words didn't quite make it out, but she felt like she was really on the verge on managing to strike up a conversation with Stukov. Her confidence had recovered immensely with a new friend at her side.

Dehaka could see it out of the corner of one of his eyes. Brightwing's guard seemed to be dropping a little. A very dangerous thing, here.

* * *

Thrall sat on the floor, aching in his chest. He'd known loss before, but the sting was not something that could be dulled.

Gazlowe hefted off his robot, the machine falling slack. "So, uh, what now? You saw it. He just... bam. Like that."

"I've made up my mind. When I have bode Rehgar farewell for the time being, then I will march into battle once again. I will _never_ allow the zerg to come near the horde." Thrall said. He pulled off a strap on on of his shoulderpads, and set it aside for repair, before inspecting the handle of his hammer. "If I must eradicate those horrors to the very last, then I shall do so."

"Hey, uh... don't take this the wrong way, but I would personally prefer not to die."

"Worry not." Thrall put on his best reassuring tone. "I have no intention of sacrificing our lives recklessly. The nexus has more threats to us than just the zerg... Although, should there ever be a battle to be won, then Lok'tar Ogar. I refuse to fail."

"...Alright. I guess I probably don't want the murderous alien scourge hanging over me either. Victory or death it is. Ideally without the death." Shrugged Gazlowe. He cleared off a desk, and dropped his robot onto it before prying open a mantenance hatch.

A few minutes passed as they tended to damage on their equipment. Thrall eventually was satisfied with the restorations, and put his gear back on. "I should speak with Lucio. The man offered to help mourn Rehgar, and I know my fallen brother would appreciate his memory being shared. And we hardly have the time to spend days saying farewell..."

"..." Gazlowe nodded, and stretched. "Yeah. Hey, not right now, though. It's real late, and with my luck I'm gonna get slammed with Mira's borderline slavery first thing tomorrow."

"Now, Gazlowe. We both know that someone has to get resources if we're going to win. And I don't think we were ever treated to free rooms and reasonable cooking as slaves."

"Just kidding. Maybe. I'll go negotiate some pay with her to make myself feel better... Tomorrow."

* * *

Mira made it back to her bed, and slumped down.

She knew instantly sleep would elude her for a good two hours. Lying there, she wondered if she could have a shower, before remembering that her water works were destroyed. She let a hand fall onto her forehead in disgust. Okay, maybe there was something she could watch on the TV. Oh yeah, the electricity was also dead. Marvellous.

She got up, wondering if there was just about anything she could do. The shooting range was closed, and badly needed a cleanup. A lot of her men were dead, and the remnants would be in no mood to play poker. Although inviting the survivors in for a drink might be a decent way to help everyone relax after the night attack...

She shook her head. It was three in the morning. They'd be trying to sleep at this point.

Well, there was only really one other option. She was surprised she didn't reach it earlier. Her hand drifted to her side, and picked up a communicator. She picked at the frequency for a little while, before landing on the bridge of the Hyperion. "Hey, anyone there?"

"Adjutant speaking." A calm cybernetic voice replied. "Would you like your call rerouted, user Mira-Han?"

"Is Matthew awake?"

"Admiral Matthew Horner is currently present, overseeing the guard shift."

"Can I speak with him?"

"Paging... Paging..."

Mira inwardly wondered who the hell decided to do away with the standard buzzing of a phone or communicator. There was a click on the other end, followed by just a touch of static. "Mira?"

"Hello there, darling. I couldn't sleep."

"..." Horner took a deep breath. "I don't mean to be cold, Mira, but I can't chat now. We really can't afford to drop our guard."

"No, it's okay. I was wondering if I could come over and start to work out a duty rota. Or maybe just do the maths about what I'll need to rebuild my port."

"That's alright. Although I'm going to have to ask that you don't make a scene at this hour."

"Would I ever?" She said tiredly, but in good humor. Mira closed the channel, and picked up her favorite shotgun, spent thirty seconds combing her hair back into place, and almost decided to touch up her makeup before deciding not to waste any in the dark.

It was a short walk from the tower to the Hyperion. Marines patrolled the streets. A few saluted her, a decidedly alien feeling. She normally associated marines with breaking into government facilities. A smell of smoke drifted past her, and the awful stink of some of the popped zerg. She inwardly grumbled, realising it would take forever for that to fade away, even if she hired street cleaners.

The Hyperion's corridors were dimmed a bit. Nobody was really meant to be out and about apart from a night patrol, so the lighting was down to help save some power. The route to the bridge was oddly familiar by now. She knew just how much force you needed to open the doors gently.

Matthew was standing over a computer, tabbing through a few small reports. "Hello Mira." He said offhandedly.

"Hello? What, no reluctance?"

"Not right now. I've barely got the energy to..." A yawn cut him off. "Keep our defences tight."

"So if I call you my husband..."

"We're not officially married." He said effortlessly.

"Rats." Mira rolled her eyes dramatically. "I'll just be in the corner then."

"I've been drawing up a basic rota in the spare time I can scrounge up. Why don't you take a look?" Matthew wrote an email in a few seconds, and hit send before returning to his work. "Maybe you can think of some teams that will work well together."

Mira opened it to see a list of expeditions that needed to be carried out. A little smile crossed her lips. "Like playing matchmaker. Fun." She quietly started to draw up her own, completely different rota, while time ticked away.

 **Author's notes: Princess of the Swarm sequel got announced! Get hyped! For those of you not in the know, it's the hands-down best Starcraft fanfic I've ever read, so if you like Starcraft I'd wholeheartedly recommend popping over to their archive and checking out the story.**

 **Anyways, sorry for the delay on this chapter, Smash happened.**

 **Reviewer answer!**

 **TJtrack99: Ah, so relieved to know I'm doing something right. As for your little conundrum, I think the next few chapters might give you some more material to work with. Leave a review if there's a team you want to see!**


	15. Chapter 15: Sparks

Lucio was surprised he woke up so early after the night he'd had. Not that he was a deep sleeper, but there hadn't been much sleep involved. Weak rays of light from some nearby star were lighting up the area outside.

Lucio felt tired the moment he opened his eyes. He lay still for five minutes, sure his brain would boot up properly in a moment. He'd been here before. The day after something terrible happened, it was often harder to get up. But sleep did have a way of dulling the pains.

And it fell to everyone to be strong, for those that couldn't. Lucio got up, and went over to the shower. No water came out of the showerhead, and he remembered that it was destroyed.

"Alright." He said to nobody in particular. "Guess that means we've got some work to do."

He looked back into the room. Muradin was sound asleep. He put on his clothes, and just went out into the corridor. Everything seemed a lot more peaceful without the attack. Although at the same time, eerily quiet.

Things returned to a semblance of normality once he got to the ground floor. Valla was sat on a couch in the lobby with her eyes shut. Johanna was talking with the secretary. "Anyway, have you seen the to-do list?" The secretary offered. "Mira wrote it up completely last night. She might be scarily unpredictable, but she's leader for a reason."

"It's good to know that we have a plan. Leadership is important." Johanna said easily. "But regardless- is there anything I can do to help out? Even the smallest task."

"That's a generous offer, but we want everyone in peak condition for their missions. Group briefing will take place at 0800, about an hour's time."

Lucio skated down the stairs flawlessly, drawing the attention of the two ladies at the desk. "Good morning, everyone. Glad to see you're all alive."

The receptionist couldn't quite conceal their impressed look at Lucio taking the stairs in technical skates. "Good morning to you, as well. There's going to be a mission briefing at 0800, so please be ready."

Johanna hummed. "You wouldn't happen to have any information on the missions or teams? Preparation is key."

"I'm afraid I have nothing certain. Although Mira does seem to like you lot. Even Raynor. So, watch out for each other, please."

"I would be glad to. Now, how best to prepare..?" Mused Johanna. "I think a jog would help us all warm up for the day, and still leaves me some time to offer prayer." She secured her shield on her back, and looked at Valla. "Would you care to join me, my friend?"

"Very well. But we shouldn't waste any time. I don't wish to cause you any problems." Valla got up quickly and smoothly, stretching her arms and legs.

Lucio looked at them fondly. "You know, you two are real good to each other. It's nice to see. Mind if I come along?"

"The more the merrier!" Johanna answered. "And I do try to be good to Valla. She deserves it."

Valla hid her face a little under her hood. "Yes, it... is important that the whole team prepares..."

* * *

Raynor found himself looking out the window of the Hyperion's bridge. He realized that, and in shame forced himself to look at Matthew. He'd dragged himself here for a reason, after all. He steeled himself, and looked his trusted second in the eyes. "I need to apologize for yesterday." He started.

"..." Matthew's face was touched with a grim aura. "Raynor, I know you'd do everything you possibly could to help."

"I..." It was hard to admit a mistake like this. Even to one person, who trusted you. "I got drunk recklessly. I wasn't in any state to take command, when I should be the expert here. Our losses might have been avoided if I was a bit more responsible." He managed to get out.

"It's okay." Assured Matt. "You're still our leader. Everyone makes a mistake once in a while."

"Yeah, but... hell, guess I should have known better is all. People die because of every choice a commander makes, but that doesn't excuse me being stupid. And I guess I thought I should at least let you know that I won't get completely drunk like that again." Raynor finished.

"Apology accepted, but be sure to say it to those that lost their fellows. It's good to know you're not letting it crush you, because we could use your mind right now." Matthew went over to the main screen of his computer, and pulled up a few files. "We have two critical missions at the moment."

"Alright... what are they about?"

Matthew pulled up a chart. "The psi-destroyer currently shielding us. It runs on a diesel generator with a very limited fuel supply. The generator will run on pretty much anything by design- liquid vespene, petrol, even vegetable oil. But, taking stock of everything we have, we can only run it for about another forty hours."

"Where the hell did all our Vespene stocks go?"

"Refined into vehicle fuel which is actually too reactive for that generator to handle. I was rather impressed by that turn of bad luck. And Mira's supplies were all destroyed."

"Alright, so I guess our priority is getting some vespene then. Do we have some SCVs ready to go?"

"Yes. Getting some more fuel is our most critical task, so I'd like to ask you to oversee that." Said Matthew.

"You can count on me, son. But you mentioned another job."

"The power plant. Once that's set up, we can switch to nuclear power as normal and our energy problem will be over." Explained Matthew. "The problem is setting up a nuclear reactor without any minerals or parts."

"Okay, nothing too complex, then. Why not just have people go searching for minerals, and have the SCVs get something together?"

"We will do that, but the problem is in transporting those minerals. There are no natural fields around here, and Mira can only open gateways that are so large so often. Thankfully she somehow tricked Kerrigan into giving us a few tonnes that we can process now, but we still need a lot of them." Matthew put his hands together. "Which brings me to my question- do you have any idea how we can get a lot of minerals through a small portal?"

"...This isn't really my field of knowledge, but..." Raynor placed a hand on his chin. "Doesn't Mira have some kind of storage trick? She used it for those plastic explosives. Wait, what happened to those?"

"The explosives? Disarmed, I think. They never went off, to our knowledge. But I'll ask Mira. I'm sure she won't mind helping out."

"...Strange, knowing that we're pretty much allies now." Raynor reflected. "We hardly got along back home, but... well, seems it's easier to make allies with the zerg hanging over you. Wonder if we can hold it together once we get back home?"

"It would make our lives easier. But... well, she is a mercenary." Matthew reflected. "We can't trust her not to attack us unless we're the ones paying her."

* * *

After just under an hour, everyone had gathered in front of the towers. There were about seven hundred mercenaries in fighting shape after yesterday, and they formed a great crowd on one side. Mira's full forces were much, much larger, but the only mercenaries that stayed in the port for long periods of time were unemployable.

Of course, now they couldn't return thanks to the four Leviathans hanging over the planet, or were possibly stuck in Koprulu. Seven hundred might seem a lot, but altogether that was barely a town of people.

Arthas was standing in the small gaggle of 'heroes' that made up the other group. A message had been sent out asking them to separate themselves. He looked at Mira's army, wondering if they would be capable of defeating him should he attempt to fight them all.

He was reasonably confident that he'd be able to win so long as he managed to close the gap. Once he started raising the dead against them, then panic and confusion would rush to his aid, allowing him to raise more dead, and swing the fight.

But, at least for now, they were on the same side. This was just weighing up chances for the sake of future plans.

Mira Han stepped out in front of all of them, her Singularity shining on the front of her armour. A few of her personal troops stood behind her. "Good morning, one and all!" She called into a microphone. "Welcome to day one of our siege. In about a month, Kerrigan will be begging for mercy, and at no point are we abandoning this here port. I'll have to keep our plan secret since it got spoiled last time, but trust me, we'll all play a part. Now, the daily jobs."

Matthew stepped up to explain. "There is a duty rota, it has been posted to a billboard on the side of the tower. We will pay for the services, fear not."

"I can open portals. Not too many each day, and only up to a certain size, but I can open them." She dropped her voice to something mocking. "But Miruh, why don't we all portal out?" She grinned. "Because us staying here is a vital part of my plan, that's why. In the meantime, I'll be giving out missions to ensure that we can survive long enough for that plan of mine to work out. And first on the list- keeping the psi-destroyer running. We need some more fuel for it, and we need to build a new power plant. So, that leads into today's two jobs..."

Matthew took over. "We've been thinking about the teams we need for them. One will be a mineral gathering operation, guarding our SCVs. The other will be a search for fuel in an old abandoned factory. For the first we wanted a group that will excel at static defence, so can Sgt. Hammer, Lt. Morales, Muradin, Jaina and Falstad report to the Hyperion for briefing."

"As for the factory raid, I'll be sending Valla, Johanna, Lucio, Raynor- yes, THE Raynor, and Tyreal. You folks can also come with us for some instructions." Mira called out. "The rest of you, go get your daily tasks done. Those houses won't rebuild themselves!"

* * *

"So, I'll be sending you all to this old vehicle depot." Mira explained. "We were sent over by debt collectors to kill everyone there once."

"...Um..." Lucio raised a finger.

"I know, I know, I'm a heartless monster." Mira put her hands up, miming surrender. "But we needed the money and it's pretty clear they owed enough to be worth hiring us out, so don't go thinking we just slaughtered a bunch of total innocents."

"I seriously doubt that it was a moral action." Tyreal observed. "Although I don't sense a dire injustice, so I shall defer your judgement for the moment- for all our sakes. What are we looking for in this quest?"

Raynor weighed in. "Fuel. Vespene, or petrol, or oil or anything. I know what to look out for. We just need to get as much as we possibly can, so we can keep our psi-destroyer up."

"That's right." Mira confirmed. "I'll send you all off now. There shouldn't be any trouble, it's far out of the zerg's range to detect you. I'll reopen a portal in the location you come through in eight hours, and you can bring through whatever you've scrounged up. Any questions?"

"...What if we need to emergency evac?" Asked Raynor. "You gotta have an escape plan if you're heading into the unknown."

"You won't need one." Said Mira dismissively. "Nobody is there. Nobody will know you're there. Nobody will care you're there. The worst thing that could happen would be someone touching some old chemical waste. That, and I honestly can't think of one. If you've got an answer, let me know."

Raynor made a grumbling sound. "Alright, guess there's no other option. But DON'T think I like this, Mira."

"Don't expect you to. Just do what I need, and I'll keep you alive and beat Kerrigan."

"...Let's just get this over with." Raynor said. "Anyone who wants to avoid this, then I'll find a replacement."

"Nah, we're with you." Said Lucio. "Sure it's kinda risky, but we can all handle ourselves around worse. Right?"

"Right." Confirmed Johanna. "I'd hardly be worthy of being a crusader for the light if I wasn't willing to place myself in danger."

"Likewise, I will act to uphold justice for all." Said Tyreal. "While there are a great many injustices amongst your people- I do not think they deserve death, especially at the hands of the zerg."

Valla just nodded.

"Then it's settled." Mira clapped her hands together. "See you soon, lovelies!" She held out a hand and concentrated, and a blue rift opened in front of herself.

"Don't call me that." Valla said without a trace of emotion. A hint of anger slipped in. "Ever."

Everyone went through.

* * *

Kerrigan's eyes snapped open. She'd been sitting down, concentrating with all her might on her own Singularity. Its power grew, slowly. Braxis was becoming mightier, as her swarm rebuilt the world into a bastion of the zerg. Working out how to preserve the planet's power enough to prevent the singularity dying had taken some effort, and slowed her down considerably, but now they were starting to hit the point where her power could grow itself unimpeded.

But now, she sensed it. A portal had been opened below.

She reached into her hivemind as naturally as if she were speaking. 'Stukov, a portal has been opened by Mira. I'll send your forces as close as I can manage.'

'Are we sending a full army, or a smaller team?'

Kerrigan paused, to try and read what had gone through that portal. It was hard to make out anything, reading the unfamiliar forces. 'I can't quite tell what's gone through, but I don't think too many things were sent. That means they sent a small elite unit, which means heroes. I want them captured or killed. You may use whatever forces you want.'

Stukov's presence became calculating, running through all kinds of possible teams and tactics. 'It seems like our own forces could make use of the element of surprise. I'll set up a forward base, and have Dehaka help scare them into a trap. Ready for deployment in five.'

Four and a half minutes passed.

'I've gathered what I need. With this, I should be able to trap and dispose of any five individuals. Of course, I fully expect there to be some miracle in their favour given the track record they have.'

'Don't put things down to luck. Our enemies are literally the best of the best.'

'You are right... I should account for that. Open the portal and I will take this brood through.'

Kerrigan tapped out of the conversation, and focused entirely on the chamber Stukov and his forces resided in. Her natural connection to the hivemind enabled so much more than just conversations. She could feel every room and its contents with perfect clarity, and she knew exactly how many individuals were present in the chamber Stukov was waiting in.

Nexus energies began to coalesce, gathering into a focal point at the centre of the room. Kerrigan could feel that she'd opened a portal, stable and hexagonal in form. Reality had bent to her will, distance between two points shrinking to nothing. An efficient manner of transport for heavy loads, since this was costing her energy in upkeep rather than per-unit.

Still, it wouldn't last long. She felt the army at Stukov's disposal move through, and not a second too soon. The portal shut, and Kerrigan was left feeling like she could use a chance to sleep.

"Ugh..."

'My queen, is there something wrong?' Izsha communicated, without diverting her attention from the orbital formation.

Kerrigan got up, and stretched her arms. There would be no physical effect, she was a zerg without need of cardio. But it triggered memories of doing that as a ghost. "Opening those portals drains my energy quickly. Probably better to bend distance with our psionic abilities in the future."

* * *

Lucio found himself in front of a large industrial complex. Ruined asphalt ran as a road into the distance, ending at a building that might have been a starport. The complex was ringed in a high metal wall, with a large sign warning of electrocution on one of the gates.

The skin of rust, and colossal hole in the metal wall hinted that the sign might not be entirely accurate anymore.

"...Guess Mira must have made quite an entrance." Murmured Raynor.

They opted to go in through the hole. Just in case the sign somehow still held true. Inside the complex was eerie. A battlefield long past.

Lucio heard a small rattle, as his foot hit a bullet casing. "Guys, what the hell happened here? The people who worked in this place... there's no way they deserved this."

Tyreal clenched his fist. "When we get back, Mira and I shall have _words_." The fury in his voice was so natural, so sympathetic, that Lucio couldn't help but feel angry too.

Every building was riddled in bullet holes. Debris was strewn everywhere, and it looked like several areas had been hit with small bombs. Rust was so common that it may as well have been alive, eating this desolate place.

"I'm not an expert in fuels, but are we really going to find what we need here?" Said Johanna. Of the group, the two nephalem seemed least shocked.

"Things might be a bit cleaner inside." Suggested Raynor.

They picked their way across the grounds. The whole place had a silencing atmosphere. There was little to be heard apart from their own footsteps and the wind.

There was a distant creak, of something bending or collapsing. Four of the heroes thought that might just have been something normal.

Raynor knew better. "Everyone on guard. Things don't just move on their own."

The group were instantly wary, looking in every direction for a possible threat.

* * *

And if they'd looked at the rooftop of one of the warehouses they'd passed, then maybe they'd have spotted two onlookers.

From the high point, Dehaka could see that the disturbance had come from Stukov's forward base. Hopefully it wouldn't give them away too soon. Even when they didn't know he was present, these heroes were well-positioned.

"...Human friend... he is here again." Whispered a voice to his side. "Brightwing feel unlucky."

"If you, hesitate, when fighting, you will die."

"...I know, friend. But..." She went quiet. "Maybe... we could not eat that one?"

Dehaka didn't respond. Making promises to avoid killing the enemy seemed like a solid way to get yourself killed. He just slowy, silently moved along the rooftop, to keep watch over the prey.

Another hunting pack was slowly forming an arc, ready to break cover. But Stukov was the one calling the shots. Dehaka's only task here was to drive the targets into his base.

Yet what if they stood their ground? Or if they called on a trick of their own? This plan seemed to be rooted in facts that might no longer apply in the nexus. A strong design, but now fundamentally flawed.

Then again... Stukov was smarter than that.

"Friend, if Brightwing gets hurt, will you protect me?"

"...If you can recover." Dehaka was wary on another front. Was this hero going to follow his command? He doubted they could possibly defect, but... they might try. And losing a resource so valuable wouldn't do.

"Brightwing will always get better, silly. Have healing magic!"

"Quiet!" Warned Dehaka, lowering his own voice.

To her credit, she instantly shut her mouth and ducked down, in case they'd been spotted. A few seconds passed. "Not seen?" She whispered.

"Not yet..." Dehaka moved a little more. "They are, going into that building. Our chance, is near."

* * *

The doors took a bit of effort to force open, even for Johanna. Eventually her armoured hands tore through the corroded metal, and the whole door crumbled.

"How long has this place been left unattended?" She asked, before stepping into the warehouse.

Huge piles of crates were inside, stacked in neat towers. One of the ones in the corner had been destroyed by some kind of explosion, and thousands upon thousands of screws were pouring out. Even though everything else here was rusted beyond use, most of them just seemed a little bit tarnished- perhaps made of a resistant alloy. Somewhere across the multiverse, a fallout player cried in jealousy at that.

Metal walkways crossed all over the top of the warehouse. Lucio looked up, but they all seemed empty. "Anyone see a forklift around here? I know how to siphon fuel."

"..." Tyreal floated around. "It seems there are only boxes here."

Valla suddenly stopped, and pulled her crossbow out. "I heard something." She pointed it at a large crane, on the ceiling. She couldn't see anything amiss, but she could have sworn something caused the crane to quiver a bit. "Show yourself, or I shall shoot."

"..." Nothing moved.

"It's... probably nothing." Offered Lucio. "Don't get panicky, there's a lot of nasty stuff you could trip up on here."

Tyreal drew his sword. "She is right. I can sense something..." He floated away from the floor, wings cutting an imposing figure.

"Be ready." Raynor had his gun primed. "Defensive formation. Valla, find an escape route if we need one." The pre-emptive orders rattled off almost automatically.

Valla looked around. Window to their left, easily broken. Doorway behind them. Windows on the upper right if they climbed the boxes. Secondary doorway in front. If everyone ran, they could get out in thirty seconds, no problem.

So she looked up, to see what Tyreal found.

He carefully floated around the side of the crane, sword ready to parry anything. There was a faint 'poof' sound.

"...I see no sign of an enemy. But I heard something." Tyreal floated back down. "I'll check from the skies once we're back outside."

"Thanks, man." Lucio said. He looked around. "Looks like there's nothing we can use in this building. How about we get somewhere safe, because this whole thing screams 'suspicious'?"

"Agreed. We need to sweep the area thoroughly. We've got another seven and a half hours before Mira will get us out, too... Dammit." Raynor spat. "I told her we needed an exit strategy. If there actually is something here that we can't deal with then we're in deep shit. Alright, forwards, everyone."

They walked through the building, swift and wary. The hints of danger were small, but all of them knew better than to ignore them.

There was a clanking sound. Everyone's attention snapped around. The crane was swinging a touch.

"It's moving?" Asked Johanna. She looked around. Nothing else seemed different, but things don't just move on their own.

There was a moment as everyone backed towards the door, and then something moved.

"Hydralisk!" Raynor's marksmanship was perfect. A handful of lead was blasted through the zerg that had broken cover before it even had time to shoot a spine.

And then every wall had dozens more come punching through, and the floor and ceiling were torn apart by burrowing zerg. It was in the space of just a few seconds, as the 'ambush' was initiated. As the walls began to crumble zerg rushed forwards in force, spines and acid flying.

Raynor gunned down two, before stepping back. "Hell! RUN! All of you!" He kept shooting, seeing Valla stand her ground.

A sudden volley of return fire sailed past Raynor, his attempt to cover their retreat being forcibly flipped on its head. Valla leapt clean over his head, crossbows nothing more than two blurs of oak and steel, firing like machineguns. Johanna got in front of him and slammed her shield down, the incoming volley of spikes shattering like nothing more than clay.

"Death awaits!"

Raynor could only watch in awe as Valla fired and fired. He knew strafe was a powerful technique, but it dawned on him now just how sorely he'd underestimated what it could do. She stopped her spinning and stepped back, weaving in some more parting bolts.

Tyreal took point as the Zerg actually reached them, and plunged his sword into the ground. "They won't get past." A harsh golden light spread over the floor beneath him, flickering. Zerglings and roaches hit the light and were stopped dead as if it were a wall of steel. He took El'druin and plunged it into the skull of one enemy, drawing it out and gutting another.

Now that they saw it, the enemy's assault wasn't even that large, merely arranged to appear that way. A few more droves fell. Raynor saw that everyone had taken a little damage, but nothing had penetrated armour. The enemy numbers were dwindling rapidly under the blistering counterattack Valla had sparked.

And she saw her target, the one leading the charge.

* * *

Brightwing had a horrible sense of a recurring event. They ambushed. They failed. And now, Dehaka was in a bad spot. Lucio was also present.

Her healing magic pulsed, but it couldn't sustain the group under this much damage. A bulled whizzed, and hit her chest. It hurt, but her skin didn't break, the blow dulled by magical ability.

Hesitation fell away once again, as she saw the rest of the group. A moment of clarity flew through. She cared about Lucio. The rest of them? Well, they were a threat. And when it came to fight or flight, she was already fighting.

"No kill pack!"

Arcane flare, polymorph, and magic spit. Not terribly strong offensive moves, but when the magic hit, it provided a moment of disorientation. She blinked to Dehaka, repositioning to throw a second flare, and took a crossbow bolt to the wing.

Pain shot through it, but she was in a fight. No time to flinch.

Dehaka lunged out, and struck at the wall of light. He was repelled, and ducked under a blast from the Penetrator installed in Raynor's gun. The rest of the pack was still rushing with what strength it had left, and made it around the edge of the circle.

She stayed somewhat safe, channeling more healing into the pack. The fight was about to tip either way, she could feel it.

And Johanna took three mighty steps forwards, braced herself, and hit with her flail. The entire frontline went flying. Dehaka tried to drag her in, and she blocked the tongue on her shield, standing solid as a rock. Valla and Raynor fired. Tyreal went in with his sword, and Lucio...

She needed to do something.

She was already doing all she could.

And yet, not one of the attacks connected. Dehaka seemed to slip through the ground as easily as if it were water, burrowing to safety. Brightwing could sense he'd fled the scene, and agreed that they needed to. She fluttered back, as the last bits of the ambush scattered, and prepared to teleport to safety.

She caught sight of Lucio again, and the guilt returned in force.

Another few bullets and arrows flew, a few stabbing into her. Then the warp completed, and she found herself underground.

"Ow! Ow ow, ouch... ow."

The rumbling feeling nearby stopped. "Brightwing?"

"Hello."

"We are, deep, underneath the ground. You, cannot burrow. How?" Confusion filled the tone.

"Can teleport to friends."

"..." Dehaka was beginning to wonder exactly what friend meant, although having an escape ready at all times was a good thing. "We, should go back to Stukov."

* * *

"Is that all?" Valla reloaded her bows. "I'm low on bolts."

"No, that was too complex a force." Raynor murmured. "Damn the fuel, we need to evacuate right now. Let's get moving." He made for the backdoor, heading for the outside.

Tyreal followed, for a moment wondering why they wouldn't go the direction they came. Probably in case of any remnant ambushers...

And, having repelled the scare tactic, the group walked into the real trap.

 **Author's notes: Well, that HGC situation was a bit of a blow. But rest assured, I'm here until the bitter end. You WILL get a story for this game, and nothing will prevent me writing it.**

 **By the way, want some forbidden knowledge? Well, successfully turning the tables on a scare ambush and then walking straight into the actual trap is directly taken from my DnD sessions.  
**


	16. Chapter 16: Explosives

Stukov was personally overseeing operations at the abandoned complex. Micromanagement with sentient beings normally would wear patience thin and slow things down in time spent ordering, but a hivemind could allow in infinite number of commands to be issued per second, allowing those with good mental skills to streamline any operation.

'Vice-Admiral, it appears Dehaka was successful. They are heading towards our trap.'

'Good work, Benjamin. Stay back and observe, I will now take command.'

Stukov pulled up one of his chairs, and sat down, before fully concentrating on his troops. He had a good number of men here, more than enough in theory. At the same time, not even a fraction of his total armies aboard the Aleksander.

And had he not been abruptly dragged from Koprulu to the Nexus, the Aleksander's armies weren't even a fraction of the sheer number of infested that had resulted from the zerg's many conquests. But, here he was with only one battlecruiser of troops to his name.

Stukov's vision of the room around him faded to a passive perception, as his consciousness presided over a crescent of soldiers. His foes would run into them any moment now. Then it would just be a matter of giving the order to fire. In theory.

He was acutely aware that these five people were all very capable of pulling miracles out of their asses. Hence the rest of the base he'd set up.

* * *

Raynor looked back briefly as everyone got moving. "Dammit, how the hell could the zerg have known we were here?"

"No time to worry about that right now. We gotta get out alive." Lucio called, turning his speed boost up.

"The man's right!" Raynor agreed loudly. "Everyone, stay alert. Anything gets too close, I'll give 'em a blast."

They ran together, putting a bit of distance between them and the warehouse they were ambushed in. Lucio watched Valla, mindful of the fact she seemed to have spent most of her ammunition in that encounter. If they got caught again, it would be up to him to save them. Sound Barrier was notorious for sucking the batteries out of his technology, hence his hesitation to use it sometimes, but right now there was no question he'd need it.

Johanna and Tyreal, on the other hand, seemed to have a fair amount of whatever they used to cast with. Magic power? Holy light? Either way, Johanna's expression was stern and her posture was sturdy, while Tyreal floated along with his sword in hand.

They found themselves coming to a clearing. There had been some alleys they could have taken to branch away from it, but they were cluttered with boxes and mostly led even further away from the entrance.

Once they ran out into the clearing, Raynor stopped for a moment. A gentle breeze blew, and some metallic air went past. "...Something ain't right here." He brought up his gun.

A wave of shots resounded, and Lucio had only a second to blink before Johanna was in front of him, and a loud rain thrummed against her shield. Before he could even think he was playing Rejuvenascia, trying to see what was happening.

Raynor stumbled back, the front of his suit covered in pockmarks and a crack on his visor. "Another ambush!" He went to return fire, and Lucio saw another bullet catch his shoulder.

Tyreal calmly walked forwards, and drove the tip of his sword into the floor. Light erupted from the ground, forming an aura around the team.

A bullet that should have hit Johanna's shield was stopped dead by the light, along with the next fifty. Soon, Lucio was looking at a cloud of metal floating there. He helped Raynor up. "Tyreal, what do we do?" He did his best not to sound panicked. It was just a question.

Tyreal looked out at the ambush, from the safety of his Sanctified ground. With this many foes, arranged this way... "We've no choice but to pull back and get the enemy in a less advantageous situation. The moment my spell fades, we'll be torn apart."

"I can buy us a few extra seconds of protection." Said Lucio confidently. "Trust me and my Sound Barrier."

"Alright." Raynor looked around. "Get around the side of that warehouse, there. We need to get out of the line of fire and then lose these guys."

"My sanctification will fade in two, one..."

"Let's drop the beat!" The light on the floor dissipated, and Lucio jumped up and slammed his amplifier down. The air around the team seemed to vibrate, and another few bullets were stopped in their tracks. "Alright, let's hustle!" He started sprinting, sure everyone was following. It only took a few seconds, and they were around the corner. Another few and they were out of shooting range.

* * *

Stukov groaned and looked at the wall expectantly. His ambush had been perfectly executed. Even Raynor hadn't seen through it. But nooo, the moment his enemies were in trouble they would literally just turn invincible and walk away. Still, they hadn't left the area. Not yet, at least.

And he still had all the troops he'd brought with him. The hunt was on.

'Spread out, and pursue. If they don't leave, then we'll tire them out and move in when they're exhausted.' Stukov was well aware that any sane member of his enemy would evacuate at this point. But, no harm in taking advantage of the situation.

He turned his attention to the equipment inside his command centre. Unfortunately, the scanners had stopped functioning long ago. However, it still had a screen that he could map his troops on.

Now was the time to strategize.

His thinking was interrupted as the floor in one corner of the room bent upwards, a force applied from below. That would normally have been cause for alarm, but Stukov recognised that there was only one probable person who would dig through his floors.

"Dehaka."

The corner broke open, and Dehaka climbed out. "Have you, succeeded?"

"No. They quite simply became immune to all harm and walked away." Stukov laughed hollowly. "However, they have yet to evacuate, and so I'm going to try and chase them down."

"Question, effectiveness." Dehaka moved aside from the tunnel. "They, stood and fought, my attack."

"What." Stukov blinked. "I must have misheard, because you outnumbered them ten to one."

"You, have seen their power."

Stukov grumbled. "Alas. With any luck, I can use this opportunity to take them out. And-" He saw something else coming out of the tunnel. "...I would appreciate you didn't crowd my command centre."

Brightwing climbed above ground. "How friend dig so fast?"

"Well, so long as I still have you two here, you can help. Get out there, and be of what assistance you can." Instructed Stukov.

* * *

Everyone trundled to a halt once they'd travelled the length of the complex. Raynor punched the wall. "Okay. We have to hold out for seven hours. First things first, anyone injured?"

"We're all good." Lucio looked around. "Uh, Tyreal, you're okay right? Kinda hard to tell for me."

"I have suffered no harm. Now, let us plan. I don't intend to meekly hide from our enemy." Tyreal held his sword down, standing sagely.

Johanna took out her water cask, and took a sip. She passed it to Valla, who also drank a little. "No servant of the light would take this lying down. And if we can turn the tables, then we may make our lives easier."

"We can't fight those numbers and strategies head-on. We might be able to guide them into unfavorable situations, however." Suggested Valla. "Unless that is too dishonourable, Angel?"

"I guess if we're here for seven hours we might as well try and get our hands on some fuel too." Added Raynor. "But yeah, all in favor of baiting these suckers into a bad spot, hands up." He raised his own hand.

The rest of the group followed suit. Tyreal looked back. "This will not be easy. They may fall for this ploy the first time, but do not grow complacent." He took up his sword, and walked over to the edge of their alley. "I will take control of the skies, and relay the enemy positions. You must organise an ambush spot with an escape route."

"Alright, but take care of yourself okay?" Lucio said. "If you start getting shot at, just come back here and I'll heal you."

Tyreal nodded, flying into the skies. The rest of the group moved below him, observing the landscape. Lucio's heart was pounding. It was one thing to slip out of a deadly situation, but another entirely to try and flip it on the enemy. It was audacious. It was terrifying. It was honestly exhilerating.

For ten minutes, they were just running around, getting the lay of the land.

"Hey, Valla... I, uh... I know now's not the best time to ask, but..." Lucio said awkwardly. "About Brightwing. If we run into her again, and she doesn't, uh, go out of her way to attack us... maybe I should try and talk to her?"

"That's a fool's pursuit." Valla responded. "If she could have defected, she would have done so by this point."

"...I'm not sure. She's never really had a chance to speak."

"But she can teleport. She wouldn't be stopped."

"...Guess you're right... but if we get the chance, then maybe I could try? Just try?"

"You must accept the loss." Valla said, as calmly as she could manage- but still with a harsh edge. "If you let your guard down, you'll be killed. And I would prefer not to lose anyone."

"Hm. I... yeah. I know you're looking out for me, but ouch." Lucio kept looking around. "Well, anyway. Hope I haven't been distracting you."

"No. I can see this landscape is poor for ambush tactics. We ought to try inside one of the buildings, if we're looking for good spots."

Lucio tapped Raynor on the shoulder. "Hey, you hear her?"

"Loud and clear. Anyone see a warehouse with a couple of open doors?"

"Over here." Johanna said. She gestured to a warehouse with a large roll-down door that was currently open, another one visible through it.

They went inside, finding it to be filled with all manner of crates, much like the first one. There was a gaping hole in the roof, and a section of the walkways had collapsed, but to Valla's satisfaction, the doorways were perfectly situated.

She climbed up onto the walkway and started taking measures of the area. In just a few moments, she smiled. A razor-sharp look that would have made most enemies quake in their boots. "It's... _workable_." She produced a spool of wire from underneath her shoulderpad. "Everyone, help me trap this entrance. And ask Tyreal to play bait for my trap."

It took the best part of fifteen minutes to set up what Valla had in mind. She had a very keen eye, taking note of some hooks that were normally for fixing the door dwn securely. Johanna and Raynor helped shift over some empty crates, which were wrapped with wire. It wouldn't tak much disturbance to the tripwire she set up to send them tumbling over the entrance, an ideal distraction for her and Raynor to shoot down a few foes.

Tyreal landed, observing the setup. "I see your plan... I will stand and fight them here, then."

"Yes." Confirmed Valla. "Discretion is the better part of valor, however. Once we have slain this group, we must withdraw immediately."

"Do not worry, my ally. Imperius has shown me exactly where the line between bravery and stupidity lies." He stepped into the air. "I shall return shortly. Make ready, mortals."

Valla looked around the rest of the group. "Raynor, you don't mind if I call the retreat?"

"Go ahead, missy." Raynor waved her on. "This is your plan, and I'd be dumb as a brick to try and take over it now."

Valla stared dead ahead. An intrusive thought poked her about what she would have done if Raynor HAD wanted to command the operation, but then again, she knew him well enough to say that he wouldn't interfere.

 _Hm. How strange. I've known the man for all of a week, and he manages to work as effectively with me as the rest of the nephalem._

* * *

Stukov looked through the eyes of one of his soldiers, seeing Tyreal fly around. 'Hmm... It seems they're assessing the threat. Can we shoot him down?'

'In theory, yes. But you know it may not work, Vice-Admiral.'

'Move groups to encircle, and bring out a siege tank.'

Stukov observed carefully, tracking his forces as they formed a ring. His enemy didn't seem to be trying to escape by flight- almost certainly because they needed to protect the other people they came with. So the rest of his quarry had to be below that point. Now, to make sure they didn't slip away, OR pull off that invincibility again.

'Launch Viking mechs. Have them rush the area to reveal our the location of our targets.'

'Aye aye... capt... n' Responded a hazy voice.

Not thirty seconds later, five infested vikings took off from the base. For those of you not versed in Starcraft, they're the bruiser camps on Braxis. They were in a flight configuration, cruising through the air swiftly. Ideal for reaching a location in slowing terrain and picking off a few weaker enemies.

They stayed in V-formation, before branching out to move for the centre of the circle.

Stukov watched as one pulled into a quick aileron roll to avoid a sword going through the windscreen. 'Watch yourself. I'm not in a position to replace troops here.'

Of course, the advice hardly mattered- the pilot was doing his best, as was his foe. But Tyreal had him outmatched in all regards, angelic wings granting him unrestricted movement while the pilot had to keep moving. And then, with one lunging blow, Tyreal quite simply cleaved the machine in half.

Stukov paused for a moment. That flying suit of armour with no discernible force moving its parts just _sliced a mech twice his size in half._ He was starting to have doubts about this particular venture, although he'd never let them show. And besides, he'd taken down worse. 'Ground units, in range?'

'Yes, Vice-Admiral.'

'Open fire! Vikings, press on ahead to find the rest!'

Bullets went up, and Stukov was relieved to see that his opponent wasn't intangible. At this range, nobody could be accurate, but a hundred and fifty soldiers were shooting. A few shots had found their mark, bouncing off with sparks and leaving cracks or dents or burns in the armour.

And in turn, the angel dropped down to the ground, into cover. A smart move, but predictable. Stukov once more was thankful for the hivemind, as he issued the next order: 'Every other man is to advance, and the rest are to hold postion and shoot him down if he flies again.'

They were closing in now. There should be no opportunity for escape. Stukov waited patiently, as his Vikings failed to find the enemy in the open, but his ground forces were successfully running down the angel. As Tyreal headed into the enclosed warehouse, Stukov's suspicion peaked. That was a horrendous tactical error. Was it genuine?

Yet, in the time it took him to consider that it was too late. The infested he was watching through suddenly tripped, and then there was a thump and nothing, the skull crushed.

He looked through another soldier and was mildly shocked to see the- pardon my french- fucking _audacity_ that these people had, to kill some zerg with nothing but a few damned wooden crates. Infested soldiers were flimsy, everyone knew that- but a crate? A plain crate?

And gunfire was blazing at the top, the brief disorientation of his troops spelling doom for many. Six went down before they could react, and as the remaining four started to try and return fire they were bashed down by a woman with a shield, and then put to the angel's blade.

Fifteen men were down, and one Viking. Stukov was a touch frustrated, but knew that he still had many more infested enclosing on that position. He frowned a little as he saw them starting to run. The best move, but not a winning one. 'Vikings one and three, crash throgh that wall and prevent their escape. Men, concentrate on this location, don't let them break through.'

* * *

Valla nodded. "Let's leave. Quickly."

"Nicely done, missy!" Yelled Raynor, as he started to move out. "Let's haul ass outta here!"

Lucio cheered, and switched to speed. Things were coming together. They were going to pull this off, with Valla's expertise and Raynor's leadership!

There was a tremendous crash that wobbled the entire warehouse, as two Vikings charged through the wall at mach pace. The tactic would have been outright suicidal with non-infested pilots, and even then it was one Raynor had never considered. As it was, the metal of the walls was blown everywhere, bent or shattered.

And three seconds later, the warehouse started collapsing. Lucio was about to sprint out, when a golden flicker caught his eye.

While Raynor, Valla and Johanna were safely distanced from the collapsing wall, Tyreal had been knocked down by it, and the building was collapsing right this second.

Lucio didn't even think about what he was doing. "Raynor, I'll catch up!"

"Wha-" Another crash shook the building as the roof began to come down.

"RUN!" Yelled Lucio, as he grabbed the rail of the walkway and nimbly swung himself over, reversing direction. Raynor hesitated for a second, before running, as the walkway began to wobble. Lucio hit the floor running, music beating as fast as his heart. He made it to Tyreal in seconds, and drifted into a stop, yanking the angel from the floor. "You ain't dying here Tyreal!"

Infested opened fire. A few bullets hit Lucio's vest and were stopped short by the protective mesh. Many hit Tyreal, who didn't flinch, and blocked a shot with his sword. One or two rounds hit Lucio's arms, but the Sonic tech shielded them just as well as any armour.

And Lucio ran, as fast as he could, with enemy fire whizzing over him and carrying Tyreal. The wall collapsed entirely behind him, blocking off the footsoldiers, and then the two Vikings fired.

Lucio staggered and fell off-balance as a volley caught his foot, the electric skate flickering and dying. But through some adrenaline-based godlike reflex, he kept himself up and just ran like the wind, the length of the building. There was no exit at the back.

But Lucio was a better escapist than that. He crammed Tyreal under one arm, and pulled out his Amplifier. He thumbed the dial on the back as far as it would go, and squeezed the trigger. The recoil felt like it was enough to take his arm off, but the nearest wall panel was blown out, and Lucio kept on running through, unstoppable.

They made it into the outside air, and around the corner. Lucio looked around frantically, plotting the next step with the few precious seconds he had. There were more warehouses, and some roadways... with infested coming down them. They were trapped.

"Ty, we need a way to get outside that ring and lay low."

Tyreal groaned, and got to his feet. "I'm a little worn out..." His front was a mess of bullet damage, dirtied and fractured. But the most glaring damage was his right shoulderpad, caved in completely- part of the wall had hit it directly. His arm weakly clung to El'Druin, but it was obvious he couldn't fight. "...Perhaps we could double back?"

"No good." Lucio didn't see any better option than the press forward. He grabbed Tyreal's good arm and pulled him with him. The amplifier he held wasn't meant to be used at the intensity he was, but he blew another hole in the nearest warehouse and scrambled inside. "We'll go straight for another warehouse and lay low. If it works on the cops, it works on these guys!"

Tyreal managed to get off the floor, floating enough to make things easy for Lucio. But the musician was charging on like he had more divine strength inside him than Tyreal did. They crossed the warehouse floor, noises from the outside drawing closer. Lucio brought up his amplifier once more. Could it take another shot at this volume?

He pulled the trigger, and a panel of the back wall blew out of the current warehouse, too. Lucio hopped through, gasping for breath. Sprinting like _that_ could only go on for so long, but he wasn't done yet. He looked around the alleyway he'd come out in, and it seemed empty for just the moment.

He brought up his gun, and fired once more. There was a puff of smoke from the battery compartment.

"Oh, no. Alright, guess we've gotta-"

Infested came around every corner, guns raised. Lucio froze up, dropping his burned-out weapon. There was no way to possibly run, in their state. Tyreal moved to cover Lucio's back, but even as he held his sword, his stance was weakened.

"Your lives... are... for the... swaa..." One infested tried to speak, running out of air in their lungs. "Surr... ender." They held a gun that was fused to their body. Most did, although a few were simply unarmed.

Lucio's eyes moved around. He had nothing that could save them here. His skates were broken, the gun of his tech had broken, Tyreal's arm- broken.

Yet Tyreal was in a worse state, and still wasn't standing down. Either the angel had an answer, or thought this was a fight worth dying in.

Lucio put up his fists. "Come and-" There was a 'poof', and Lucio felt the angel behind him disappear. "Tyreal?!" He looked to see a sheep standing behind him.

"No! No, nopey-no!" There was a flapping of wings, and from the roof Brightwing dropped down, gliding to hover behind the lines of infested. "Whew! Thought it would be too late! Friend, do not die."

Lucio lowered his fists a little, voice trembling a touch. "...Brightwing, what are you doing here?"

"Do not want friends to be dead." She explained shortly, with an out of place laugh. "So, helping take prisoner! You do not die, and zerg get person! Make all friends happy!"

"..." Lucio looked back to the sheep. "...Hey, uh... why'd you stay with them? Couldn't you come back to us?"

"Brightwing cannot... I want to survive, and... eh... eph..." She stopped, and took a second to get the word out. "Evolve. Can't survive zerg. Can't evolve on metal ship. Come on, I want to show you lots of things, friend!"

Lucio was torn. He didn't want to go down without a fight, but it looked like he didn't have a choice. "Just... don't let anyone hurt Tyreal at all, you hear?"

"Brightwing hear!"

* * *

They were marched back to the infested compound. True to word, none of the infested made any attempt to harm either of the captives, or even properly restrain them. With both captives already bone tired and an ally with disabling magic present, why bother?

Lucio felt genuine fear for his life nonetheless. The situation had spiraled out of his hands completely, and he was at the mercy of the zerg now. He saw the infested around him, and how obvious it was that many of them were in great pain from their mutations. The thought of being condemned to that for an eternity was scarier than death.

Tyreal walked beside him, sword missing. He had a kind of calm dignity as he walked, even in this situation. He accepted the defeat, but wasn't defeated by it.

And of course, Brightwing was doing her best to tell Lucio about her time so far. "So, got stabbed! Was very hurty and bleeding, and then I woke up having a nasty, nasty dream. And then-" She did a loop in the air, showing off her current wings. "Had all spiky bits! And was scared. Did not have any friends then... But Brightwing was helped by Dehaka! He is also scary. But Brightwing still like him. And now Brightwing might be friends with Stukov! I will have... one, two, three... four... six... Um, some friends!"

"What about Tyreal? Is he a friend? He's a real good guy, I promise." Said Lucio, trying in turn to appear like the conversation was at the front of his mind.

"No." She answered bluntly. "Weird, and doesn't like Brightwing. Would like to try eating, but friend wants him to be safe."

"Er... Maybe we'll work things out sometime later?" Lucio looked ahead. "Is... is that it?"

The infested command centre loomed, with bunkers newly constructed and infestation spreading around it. A few troops were stationed here as a defence, all holding a fortified position that was intended to maximise the efficiency with which a gunner could deal damage, or a melee could hold a chokepoint.

But right now, Lucio was worried about the creep. True, he hadn't been infested when he stepped on board that Leviathan, but back then he had his technology and he had Mira's protective air bubble. And he had a full team of healthy allies. Again, the worry of getting infested was present in his mind.

"This is base. Stukov walk it through portal! Oh, and Dehaka is by there! Brightwing should tell him about this." She seemed to jump into the air by an extra metre, before gliding off.

"Wait-" Lucio started, before seeing the closest thing he had to support disappear.

He was marched deeper into the base, where the doors slid open. While previously, he had been worried about the environment infesting him, the second he stepped foot into the command centre every part of his brain united to chant _get 'out of here NOW'_ at him. Unfortunately, he remained surrounded by guards. They walked further inside, before coming to an empty room.

Lucio was pushed inside. "What are you gonna do to us?"

"Stukov will..." One wheezed. "Infest... you, once... hee..."

Another one took over the sentence. "Finishes commanding, the forces in battle."

Lucio was suddenly aware he was on a very tight timer to find a way out of this situation before he ended up getting infested. "...So, is this room like, a prison cell?"

The infested all nodded at once. "Resist and you die."

Lucio sat down. One way in or out of the room, with six- no, four armed guards, and two unarmed. None of his technology was working apart from the music player, and that wasn't going to help much on its own. Tyreal was still recuperating. The angel in question sat down next to Lucio.

"Hmm... this is quite a predicament, no?" Tyreal said calmly.

"Yeah. A bit." Lucio sighed. "Suppose this might be the end, then. Hope I don't end up killing anyone. Wonder if anyone'll get revenge for my dad back home?"

"You never told me the fulll situation. Why not recount it?"

Lucio smiled a bit, and looked at Tyreal. "You sure? It's not going to make you happy."

"Please." Tyreal's hood held nothing, but Lucio was certain that inside there could have been a man in his late-thirties, with an honest job and a hard past. Oddly specific, but without doubt what Lucio felt.

"Okay... well, the first thing I remember is when I was about two or three. I was in a little apartment, in my home city of Rio. My dad was standing on the other side of the room, and he was making coffee. He was really happy about it. I know that seems kinda irrelevant, but my dad had just gotten accepted for a new job.

It was for a large corporation, called Vishkar. They're mainly known for land development, and they were going to help finally clean up the slums, and build them up into a proper city, help bring crime down and give everyone a better life. They were a ray of hope in somewhere like Rio.

Anyway, I grew up on the streets. I wasn't super poor, but I spent a lot of time outside because my dad was always making a ton of noise at home. He was helping Vishkar with a different project, that was meant to tie in to the city development; a sound-based system that could provide helpful effects. And he brought the work home a lot, running it on his speakers. Mom hated it, but she loved my dad enough to get through it.

Anyway, when I was about... sixteen, seventeen? I was getting really into music. And for my birthday, I asked my dad if I could use his speakers to play some of my music. Heh, it took him ages to figure out how to connect his tech to a phone, but he did it. He was awesome. And man, I fell in love with his work after I heard how good it made my songs sound.

But... well, things started going downhill from there. Vishkar built a headquarters in the city centre on time, but when they reached the due date to start working on the slums, they just... didn't. Claimed it was for delays. I don't believe them, but that doesn't matter. They didn't. Just kept saying they needed more time to finalise the plans, or to seal a contract or something. It went on for ages. Nobody else could try and get my government's permission to fix the slums, but Vishkar wasn't helping at all.

I, actually trusted them way longer than most people. My dad was on the verge of a major breakthrough on the project. And then, on the sixth of October, he did it. My dad got his sonic technology working for the first time. Something he'd put almost every waking moment into since before I was born finally, finally paid off. It was the most advanced piece of technology on the continent, at least at the time."

Lucio paused, and gestured to the box on his waist. "The Sonic Amplifier. So, he went into work the next day. He took it with him, and a laptop with all his work, and... well..."

"He came back after three hours. He didn't have his laptop or the amplifier. As soon as he'd completed the project, Vishkar just pulled out a part of the contract they'd slipped into the terms and conditions of his funding, and said that all his work was legally theirs, and they owed him no credit. He was fired on the spot to avoid paying him anything for it. I can still remember how he was that day. I... I had to talk my own father out of suicide."

"Around this time, Vishkar's infamy was getting to its peak in Rio. They were doing good work in lots of other places, the _rest_ of the world was practically on its knees and bowing to these guys. But still we got nothing. The city was starting to get pissed at how we were being denied any help. Mobs were starting to roam the streets, demanding action. Vishkar responded with riot police immediately.

Things got bad. Real bad. The city was about to spiral into some kind of rebellion, and not a clean one. And I was the son of one of the people who was screwed the worst by them. But I didn't want to kill anyone... yeah, I know, I should have known that was kinda inevitable. Because I decided I had to do something.

I... I decided I'd steal back my dad's technology, and use it with my music to try and unite everyone to just shout for change, get the attention of the world and force Vishkar to do something good. So, I was a popular guy. I had a lot of friends, and a few were in gangs. I called some favors, and..." Lucio paused. "I only meant for them to mug someone and keep him locked up for six hours, but... they killed him. I really regret that, honestly worse than people I actually have killed. But they mugged a courier and I stole his ID card, and just... walked right into the HQ like I owned the place, picked up the Amplifier like I owned it, and walked out.

And then I got the gangs together, and told them I had technology that could heal everyone around me from almost any injury. And I was gonna get everyone to stand around Vishkar and stop anyone coming or going from the building. A lot of them wanted to just raze it to the ground, but that was too far. I just wanted change, not a massacre. So... we did. We all stood outside and blocked them, and nobody on my side died. Some of them fired back at the people Vishkar called in, but things never really went out of control.

And after about two days, Vishkar gave in, but it was a half-victory. They started work. Brought over a top architect, saved what face they could. But they went out of their way to try ang get me and anyone that helped me arrested or assassinated. And... I got famous. I was about halfway through a world tour as a DJ to raise awareness for the slums, pretty much to spite Vishkar since they were going to get away with a lot of thier crimes, but it was helping a lot of people too, and then I ended up here." Finished Lucio. "I'll admit, I expected it to all end with a bunch of riot police bursting in on me one night, rather than in the nexus, with a bunch of aliens. But hey, at least I managed to get some stuff done. And I'm glad I met you!" He smiled.

Tyreal nodded. "I see... I see, indeed... From your telling, it's clear that you've been wronged, and you did your best to set things right. And also that while some measure of justice was delivered, Vishkar have yet to answer for these actions in full."

"Pretty much."

"Very well." Tyreal stood up, and took one step forwards. He looked the middle guard in the eyes. "Excuse me."

The guard looked at Tyreal in confusion for just a second before his head exploded as Tyreal punched it with his one good arm. The other five scrambled to try and shoot/claw him, and Tyreal weaved amongst them, delivering almighty punches and kicks to the vital points of each. In a few seconds, they all lay dead on the floor.

Tyreal held out his broken arm with some difficulty, and El'druin appeared in his grasp. He threw it backwards, and it clattered to the floor in front of Lucio. "Take it. And do not release your grasp until you must."

Tyreal marched out of the room and into the corridor.

"Tyreal?! How are you doing that!? Tyreal?!" Lucio forced himself to his feet, reaching for the holy sword. It seemed to almost jump into his grip.

"FOR JUSTICE!"

* * *

Stukov was alerted to six capable guards being killed in a matter of seconds. Inside his own base. A bit of panic shot through him. There was no way. No way that they somehow had the capability to fight in the state they were in. Yet he could see it clear as day, as Tyreal plowed through another two people armed with assault rifles with nothing but his left arm.

'All men, engage lethal force!' Stukov ordered. He took control of the formations, doing what he could to set up ambushes at choke points where his men weren't blocking each other.

And Tyreal just marched straight through the hail of fire, and killed them all. His entire form was littered with cracks, sparks of golden light coming from most of them.

Stukov actually felt a speck of fear. What if he'd just brought in a foe that was completely unkillable? But no. That armour was taking damage. He could see it for sure.

So he sent more gunners, and watched. He noticed the other prisoner was trailing behind, but was only visible for moments. He'd have ordered men to move in from behind, but none were in a position to do so.

But that angel couldn't take much more. It was breaking apart, the metal shredding under gunfire.

And then, finally pushed too far, the suit of armour exploded into fragments, leaving only a shining light. Stukov relaxed just a little, hoping that was the end of it, but the light didn't fizzle out and die. It shone brighter, and brighter, and expanded out further.

Stukov had a horrible feeling it was about to do something.

In a nanosecond, the light was sucked into an area the size of a pinhead.

* * *

Brightwing was flying around outside the command centre. "Come on, friend! I want to show you my other friend!"

Dehaka looked away. "I do not, want to waste time. I, seek essence. With their essence, I can overcome the curse of this 'Nexus'. I will, change."

"Aw, pretty please?"

"No. I, will leave, and, hunt soon."

"Brightwing will... um... can Brightwing do anything for friend? Can hunt! Heal! Do magic stuff!"

"..." Dehaka rumbled. "Hunt, with me. Two, are stronger than, one. And..." Dehaka went quiet for a second. Not in an awkward way. "RUN!" He dived into the earth, pushing it away desperately.

Brightwing froze in fear for a second, before flying down the hole with Dehaka. She was halfway below ground when the single brightest light she'd ever seen went off like a thunderclap, the air itself being blown like a shockwave. She got all of herself bar her tail below the earth before the blastwave hit, and it hit hard enough to snap the bones inside like strands of brittle spaghetti. She fell down to Dehaka's depth before the wave of earth and stone collapsed the tunnel partially, dropping soil and rocks onto her back.

She landed on Dehaka with the very real fear she was about to be buried alive, as more soil and stone fell down. "Help!"

Dehaka nimbly reached an arm behind himself, and pulled Brightwing in front, before the tunnel behind him collapsed.

There were a few moments of heavy breathing in the extremely squashed space. Brightwing could feel her wings bent at nasty angles, and the rest of her body pressed into Dehaka's chest extremely firmly, but she was alive. And rather uncomfortably, she could feel the bones in her tail knitting back together.

"What was that?" She managed to whisper.

"Do not know." Dehaka didn't seem bothered by the immense weight he was supporting. Either he really was that strong, or was so at home underground that he could avoid lethal pressure spots. "...We should, investigate. Carefully. May, be left behind, if we hide for, too long."

"Brightwing can get out. No worry, friend."

* * *

Stukov was sent flying through the air. The amount of force he was exposed to should have killed a man instantly. It would have killed most zerg instantly. It would have killed most life instantly.

It certainly managed to break every bone in his body in multiple places. It ripped his clothing into ash. If not for microscopic reinforcements in his brain, it'd have been turned into soup.

But Stukov was in the running for the most resilient lifeform ever, competing with Dehaka, Kerrigan, and whoever has plot armour. If the enemy weren't going to completely turn his head into dust, then they might as well have been using a nerf gun.

He was launched through the air at hundreds of metres per second, and hit the floor at enough speed to travel the length of the complex before slamming into a warehouse. Narud's infestations may have been horrific, but at the very least, micro-level infestation with a coherent design had a few upsides.

"God, what's it like to die?" He murmured, looking up at the dusty sky. "I'd love to know."

'Frieeend?'

"Oh, dammit. I'm hearing things now."

There was a sound like a musical note, and Brightwing popped into existence on his chest. Stukov felt a jolt of energy with the arrival, and about half of his bones fixed together. A surprise, but welcome. "Dehaka is tunnelling back up, friend. Will be back soon. What your plan, Stukov?"

Stukov managed to sit up, waiting for his jacket to start to reform. It always did. "Let's regroup. At the very least our enemy is down two now. I can replace those men, but they cannot..."

* * *

Lucio didn't know what to expect as the world was engulfed in a white light, but appearing in a circle of consecrated ground in the warehouse he'd tried to escape from wasn't it.

He blinked, and realised the sword he was holding was glowing. He suddenly had very little doubt Tyreal had sent him here. But then...

"No..."

The handle of the sword started to burn. Lucio didn't let go, but in just a few seconds it became scalding, and he had no choice but to drop it, clutching his hand. It fell onto the floor, and became dull.

And Lucio fell to the floor next to it.

 **Author's notes: Is everyone having a good time? I'm willing to bet some people aren't, but that's the price I pay for having a somewhat unpredictable plot (Which hopefully is more interesting than everybody lives/dies). Like the 75-ish infested that got nuked by Archangel's Wrath. Which, in this fic, is a little bit stronger than the game. In case the description didn't tell you that.**

 **Reviewer answer!**

 **TJtrack99: Well, they got out of the first trap alright... but unfortunately, I must disappoint you shortly thereafter. And I will agree, I do love a good wombo. Mosh Pit is a personal favourite for me, but we've got no ETC here.**


	17. Chapter 17: Ash

Raynor, Valla and Johanna had escaped, managing to get through the enclosing ring of fighters. After that, it had been a rush to make it to another good spot where they could look out for Lucio, which had been a building that might have been some kind of depot. SCVs were rusting around them. And not a drop of fuel was to be found.

Raynor saw the explosion on his suit readouts, and blinked a few times. "Uh, guys? Looks like someone set off a bomb over there, about a thousand five hundred metres away."

"I'm sorry, but... metres?" Asked Johanna awkwardly. "My mentor taught me basic maths, but... I'm not the best with your units."

"Other end of this complex." Said Raynor. "Looks like whatever the blast was, it was a big one. Gravity went a bit funny, in fact. So, I guess that means magic was involved."

Valla looked up. "Tyreal. I'm sure I just felt his power." She went back to her lookout point. "...I doubt he would die, but if he set off such a blast, then I doubt Lucio would be in proximity. I hope the man hasn't died. I quite liked him."

"We ought to investigate, I think. We can't hide out in this place much longer, and we don't have any better lead as to where Lucio tried to escape to... Damn, I hope that kid's alright." Raynor looked out into the horizon of the complex, and noticed a plume of smoke.

Johanna saw it too. "...I sense Tyreal's power, as well. But it's fading fast. We should make haste, Raynor."

"Right. Let's step to it."

The three of them crossed the distance as quickly as they could without exposing themselves to attack. Still, there was a suspicious lack of activity from the infested. Those that they saw were few and far between, and all of them were aimlessly shambling around, rather than moving in the organised formations they'd had up to this point.

They managed to get to an elevated security watchtower. Normally, it would have functioned as a missile turret, but it seemed to have been disarmed in ages past, leaving an empty seat for people to keep watch. Right now, it was just what they needed.

"Hold on a moment, I'm zooming in." Raynor looked down at the crater, the smoke beginning to clear. "...Looks like whatever that blast was, it's wiped out the enemy base. Creep's decaying. And... hm. Damn, I see Stukov down there. Looks like he's taken a beating, but he's alive. Don't see many hostiles otherwise."

"We could attack." Pointed out Valla. "Now is a great chance to take out an enemy general, while he's isolated."

"...It's a risky move." Warned Johanna. "With only three of us here, and so many enemies ready to surround us, we could easily end up surrounded. And our teammates could require help."

"Well, if Tyreal's alive, he's gotta be down there, right?" Said Raynor. "If we're gonna try and go in there... well, I don't like our chances, but we should go now."

Valla looked at the crater for a long three seconds. She sat back, and shook her head. "No. That blast... I think Tyreal has fallen to the enemy's assault."

"You're certain?" Asked Johanna.

"Yes. But, we can still attack. And I'm sure we can win. Let us go."

Johanna sighed. "Valla... I know this is a useful opportunity, but getting too aggressive was your undoing in your last life. It gave Mephisto the opportunity he needed, at least."

"We cannot be cowardly. Without taking chances, we'll never accomplish anything. You know I speak the truth, as does Raynor."

"...It is true, but you gotta weigh up your chances. And... wait, he's leaving." Raynor leaned forwards. "Uh... yep, that's an overlord coming out of warp space right there. Guess Kerrigan's bailing him out. Looks like the choice just got taken out of our hands."

"Could you shoot it at this range?" Suggested Valla.

"No chance. I'd only be giving away our position, and even if Stukov's getting evacuated, he's leaving a few troops behind, probably to try and snag us." He adjusted the optics on his suit for a bit more zoom. "Oh, I see Brightwing down there. And that one zerg that keeps nearly killing you, Jo. Looks like they're staying for the moment, so keep an eye out."

"It's a natural conflict between frontliners. I'm sure I'll smite them eventually." Said Johanna patiently. "But if we're not going to move in, then let's waste no time scouring the area for our lost companions."

"If they attempt to bring harm to you again, I won't leave enough of them to bury." Valla seethed in the corner.

"Peace, Valla." Said Johanna. "We have greater concerns than those of beasts."

"Of course... My discipline holds. Forgive my slip."

"Ladies, I've scanned the area thouroghly and I don't see any signs of life or movement in the crater. Let's get out of this tower, before we get caught up here."

They climbed down, moving back into the lattice of warehouses. The planet's sun was beginning to set, but a second, smaller one was rising at the same time. The result was a sky with an unusual band of twilight across it, and orange caps.

Raynor was starting to lose hope that he'd see either Lucio or Tyreal again when Valla tapped his shoulder.

"I can feel some of Tyreal's power. It's not very strong, or close... but I feel it, without doubt." She said, as Johanna took another sip of her water bottle and stretched her arms, heavy shield set aside for a moment.

Raynor nodded. "Lead the way."

They walked through the alleys, for what seemed like hours, although it was in reality only thirty minutes...

* * *

 **A few minutes earlier...**

Stukov stood up, and brushed his jacket off. "My transport will be here soon. We've won a tactical victory by taking out that angel, but I don't think we're in a good position to chase down Raynor and his two escorts. I'll be back in around an hour with some reinforcements. Until then, Dehaka, you need to prevent them from having enough time to rest. Hunt them down, keep them on the move. I doubt you'll get the chance, but if you do- kill them."

"Friend, are you okay? Sure?" Brightwing circled around Stukov, checking for more damage. None was visible, but he'd been in such a state after the explosion that she couldn't believe what her sense were telling her.

"I am a difficult man to kill." Stukov said neutrally. "...And make no mistake. I am your commanding officer, not a friend."

"Aww... Is it because angel went bang? Brightwing did not know it would do that..."

"No. It is because I wish to maintain a professional demeanor, rather than your farce. Improve your english, for goodness sake. And learn how to take things seriously." Stukov stood at attention. "Now, you have your orders. I've relayed them to my men as well, and they will do what is within their ability to assist you, Dehaka."

"I, understand."

"..." Brightwing just made a small huff and glided behind Dehaka, using him as a convenient block.

An overlord came out of warp space, and Stukov grabbed the bottom of it with one arm, hauling himself in. Another two seconds, and he was gone.

Once the overlord disappeared, suppressed frustrations were free to vent. "Brightwing doing her best... english is hard! And... Brightwing very good at serious! Only want to be friend..."

Dehaka disregarded the outburst, certain that there was nothing he could do about that situation. "We, go. You, follow."

"Yes..."

They moved out, into the warehouses. To Brightwing, they were a ton of alleys that she could look down, and they were looking for prey. To Dehaka, it was an extended nightmare of blind spots. This many solid corners would be incredibly easy to set up an ambush around, and without having a few roaches or similar units in front of you then he knew an ambush would go for him immediately. Yet, this was still the best course for survival. That overarching goal, defeating Amon... Even the smallest step towards it was a necessity for survival.

"Hey, friend. Have question."

Dehaka was on the verge of telling her to be quiet so he could better listen for threats, but if she was speaking, then it might just be important. "...Yes?"

"If we find that one friend, with green bits... then what do?" Said Brightwing quietly. "Do not want him to get hurt. But, Stukov want to hurt him. Want to be friends with him, too..."

"We, kill."

"Oh." Brightwing looked around. "...If Brightwing gave you food, would you hide him and let him go?"

"No. We, should do as, Stukov, says. He is a capable, tactician. I, might not die if, I fled the swarm. Could, avoid Kerrigan. But. Follow."

Her earlier question was brushed aside by that small revelation. "...Friend could avoid Kerrigan? But... why follow her, friend?"

"Amon." Answered Dehaka. "That being... we, must destroy him. Or he will destroy all life. Consume all essence. Change will stop, more so than even here, in this, cursed Nexus..."

"Sounds bad... can Brightwing help? We can chew his heart up with the strength of friendship..."

"Help, by following." Dehaka kept walking ahead. "And know that, if you do not want, to help..."

There was a slight change in the way Dehaka held himself, and Brightwing realised that even with his back turned to her, attention elsewhere... he would have no trouble tearing her apart. It would be as easy as blinking. His strength and experience was unmatched, the only weakness his lack of magic.

"You will, have to fight whoever you are opposing."

"...Brightwing could run away, friend." It was true. Even feeling unable to return to the people she knew before, she knew she could teleport across the world.

"Then, if you do not want to help, run."

It was a hard question for herself. Did she really want to help anyone bring harm to someone she'd decided she liked? But... from the threat Dehaka spoke of, if she didn't help, they would all die for sure- and herself, too. Maybe here she could protect them..? Yes. She could keep Lucio and the friends waiting for her back home safe better by saving them if they got in trouble with the swarm. That was her decision.

"...Will help!" She said certainly. "Will protect friends, too. I will find a way."

* * *

Lucio's eyes managed to open. His mouth felt awfully dry, and he broke into coughing once he was awake enough to start making some saliva. He got off the floor, and realised he was pretty much caked in sandy dust.

A few thoughts rolled around in his head, jumbled by his severe physical state and the sheer amount of things that had happened before he passed out.

 _Tyreal._ _Explosion._

Those two surfaced above the rest, and Lucio shut his eyes. More loss. Something he'd known before, but didn't want to know again.

 _Just do what you always do. Stay positive, stay cheerful. Don't let people lose hope._

Lucio started crying, regardless of what he thought. It hurt too damn much. Caring about people was fine, but it made losing them all the more painful. He slumped back onto the floor, sinking into misery even as he told himself he couldn't afford to.

 _You couldn't save him._

He was lying there for a while as he broke down, until eventually he fell completely silent on the floor. He stayed like that for longer, without any strength or willpower left inside him.

Of all the things to break the grip of misery on him, it was the walkway from earlier. With a tearing sound, it collapsed into the dirty floor, the damage inflicted on it earlier culminating in overwhelming structural failure. The resounding crash made him jump, basic instinct of _danger!_ kicking him to his feet.

Once he was standing, and realised it was only the walkway, his brain seemed to restart a bit from the emotional car crash there had been prior.

There were still infested around this place. He only had one chance to get out, unless another portal was opened sometime.

 _Wait. How long have I been unconscious?!_

Lucio panicked again, and looked outside the hole that had been punched earlier. The sun, or whatever star that was, was high in the sky. So, definitely a few hours. The portal was due to be re-opened eight hours after they arrived here, so... Lucio realised he needed to get back there and soon _._

He took one step outside, before cringing and remembering. Everything he had was broken. A second wave of panic made him wonder if he'd managed to do irreparable damage to the Sonic Amplifier. Some parts could be replaced with off-the-shelf bits you'd find anywhere, but others were made in high-tech labs with processes that he had absolutely no clue how to replicate, or ask anyone to replicate.

He stepped back inside.

"Alright, just... gotta check my stuff." He mumbled. He shook his head. "Gotta check my stuff." He repeated, but with confidence and energy.

The skates were completely wrecked. The blade on the right needed replacing, and while they weren't completely beyond him, manufacturing a new one might need an expert.

The gun was actually barely damaged at all. He'd blown out exactly one capacitor, and you could buy a handful of those at any store, for about ten dollars.

And the Sonic Amplifier. Lucio was hesitant to open it up, fearing the worst for his father's creation, but it seemed to be completely fine. All the wires were as he remembered. The casing wasn't cracked. There was no smell of smoke, or dust or dirt inside. The batteries were flat, that was all.

"Good... just got to get back alive."

He put it back on his waist. Everything could be fixed if he got out of this alive. Tyreal could be mourned if he got out alive.

He was almost ready to make his move, when he remembered one more thing.

El'druin lay on the floor. After Lucio had dropped it, it seemed to have skittered over a metre or two, and now lay next to some crates. The shining glow to the blade had disappeared, and a layer of dust coated it already.

Lucio went over, and tried to pick it up. The moment his fingers touched the handle, a white-hot burning sensation streaked through them, and Lucio jerked his hand back. It clearly wasn't meant for his hands, even if he'd held it briefly before.

But he knew he couldn't just leave it here. It was the sole memento he had of Tyreal, and to the best of his knowledge it was the angel's most prized possession, something he took great care of. It would be horrible to just leave it here, discarded like junk.

Lucio looked around, and saw a bit of tarpaulin covering a few crates in the corner. He went over, took it, and tried to wrap it around the sword.

His fingers didn't feel like they were burning when he picked up the bundle, at least.

* * *

Raynor lowered his gun. Zerg were splattered all over the inside of an alleyway, baited into an ingenious reverse trap. "Nice shootin', lady."

Valla checked her foes were dead, and went to work salvaging her bolts from them. "Looks like that was all of them. Any word on Stukov's reinforcements?"

"None. But we're getting out in an hour, so at this point we can just stay well away." Theorised Raynor.

Seven hours had passed. Stukov hadn't returned, and a great deal of the infested troops he'd left behind had been were picked off as a result. Johanna and Valla seemed immune to fatigue in every respect, tirelessly working to set up new traps or plot out strikes. Raynor, while not on their level, was still going strong, providing constant information and tactical advice.

They were working well together, although they had more things on their minds. Lucio, Tyreal, and the one point Raynor had provided: How had the zerg known they'd be here?

"We should move closer to the area our portal will appear." Suggested Johanna, surveying the damage. "It wouldn't do to miss it."

"Right you are. Still, you think we ought to check around a little more for our buddies?" Raynor asked, reloading. "I know, it's not the safest thing to do. But I know how it feels to leave a living man behind, and I don't want to put you through it."

"...I propose we find a safe vantage point near the entrance. We can maintain a lookout over a wide area that they would naturally move for, assuming either are alive." Said Valla.

"Can't argue with that. Let's move, before any of the leftover infested catch us."

They began the trek back towards the entrance. No fuel had been found anywhere in the compound, and they'd been put through eight hours of deadly fighting. The entire trip couldn't have been much worse short of the entire group dying.

And Raynor was thinking hard about what he was going to say to Mira for it. Part of him knew that Kerrigan was resourceful and ruthless. If she'd had a chance to find out the destination, she'd have taken it. But how? There couldn't possibly have been a way unless she had the town bugged with a non-zerg device, or Mira herself was against them, and neither were likely.

Still, Mira was at fault. She'd sent them in without an escape option, even after Raynor warned her. She'd picked a location that didn't have the fuel she was looking for. And, as one of the main authority figures in the current situation, ensuring her plans stayed hidden was up to her too.

"Guys, when we get back... how should we handle things with Mira? She's got to understand that you can't lead without planning things." Raynor said, as they walked.

Johanna fell into thought. "I don't believe her to have acted with ill intention by sending us here, even if it was poorly executed. It ought to be sufficient to give her a full report of what happened, and request she take greater care in the future."

Valla glared. "Give her an ultimatum to get her act together before we stage a revolt!"

Johanna sighed. "As ever, you are the fire to my light."

Raynor put a hand on his chin, or rather the armour over it. "Well, I'm pretty ticked off about the whole thing. Won't lie, I could certainly give her a few choice words over this mess. But... well, guess that's not gonna stop it happening again. I think it might be best to have Matt keep a closer eye on her, maybe he can ground her a bit?" He saw the outer perimeter fence, the giant hole still there.

"Ah, this is the place. Let's be sure not to position ourselves too far from it, or we may completely miss our chance to return." Johanna looked around, although there wasn't any glaringly obvious place to keep watch from. Or even a less obvious one.

"It looks like we'll have to wait out in the open." Valla confirmed. "...Not a good option, but the only viable one."

They walked out into the open. A small breeze was blowing, carrying the irritating dust around. The great plain of warehouses seemed just as empty and silent as when they'd arrived. A hard reminder of how danger could be concealed so easily.

Raynor sat down. "Really hope those guys show up soon." He looked out into the distance.

"...They are most likely dead." Said Valla, quietly. "These foul things we know as the zerg... they are just as bad as the demons. While they lack the malice and evil magics, they more than make up for it in savagery and vindictiveness. I know that I would not be alive if they managed to corner me."

"We can only hold onto hope, and ensure this will not happen again." Johanna asserted. "Until I have left this realm, I won't discard the possibility that they will return."

They sat, and waited. It had been a difficult seven hours, but it would all be over soon.

 _At least, until tomorrow_. Reflected Raynor. _Just because I get out of this doesn't mean my troubles are over. Hell, looks like they're still getting started._

On that note, he allowed himself to relax just a bit. It was draining, being in this kind of situation. He thought back to Valla's words. He worried they were true. He knew good people died all the time. It was just the way things were. All he could do was try to prevent it, and maybe succeed once in a while.

He wondered what he would drink to send them off.

His thoughts spiraled for long enough that he wasn't paying much attention at all, so when Johanna jumped to her feet, platemail clattering a little, and waved her arms, he needed a second to process it. "Itchy?"

"Lucio!" She called, waving her hands. "We had almost given up!"

Raynor's muddle of thoughts instantly vanished, and he jumped up as if he were a solid twenty years younger. "Kid!"

There he was, pacing along the side of one of the warehouses. His posture was drained, beaten-up, and he was dirtied, but Raynor didn't care. He was alive, and that was what mattered. He jogged over himself, catching up to Lucio, and saw just how much the kid had been hurt, bruises along his side, bullet damage on his legs (somehow not his top?) and eyes that needed a solid twelve hours of sleep. But they lit up all the same seeing a friendly face.

"Raynor!" Lucio's mouth spread into a warm grin. "Oh man, Raynor."

"Easy there, kiddo." Raynor took hold of Lucio and picked him up with minimal effort. "Had me scared, there."

"I thought I was dead, man." Breathed Lucio. "No idea how I'm not. Tyreal was fighting his way out of their base, but... he... well, I don't know exactly, but he exploded, and I was sent back to the warehouse we trapped in the first place and I-"

"Steady." Raynor walked back, coming up to the fence. "You don't have any injuries? I've got some painkillers in here I can give you." He carefully placed Lucio back on the ground.

"I'm good. Just thankful to be alive." Lucio said, dropping to the floor. He saw Valla and froze up. "..."

"Is something the matter?" Asked Valla.

"Tyreal... he's gone." Lucio said, exhaustedly. "I... I tried to save him, but we got caught. He sacrificed himself to get me out."

Valla nodded. "I understand." There was no emotion behind the words. "Let us leave this wretched place."

"Agreed." Raynor said. "Kid, you need a lift?"

Lucio shook his head, forcing himself up. "I can walk." He looked down. "Really... not having a good time with this whole adventure, you know? People keep dying to save me. Kinda tough to stay positive. Sorry about that..."

"Wh- There is nothing to apologise for, my friend." Johanna put a hand on her chest. "I would be far more worried if you weren't hurt by what has happened."

"I know, I know. Just... well, I guess..." Lucio started walking, as did the rest of the group. "Normally, my job was to never let anyone get me down, and not to let anyone get down. Just don't think I'm doing very well at that."

"Hell, kid. You just saw your best friend here die in front of you and you're already trying to go back to being your normal postive self?" Raynor rolled up his visor. "I think you could use a drink first, and a bit of time to recover. None of us are gonna judge you."

"...Thanks." Lucio reached behind him. "Hey, one thing. Jo, this was next to me when I was sent back to safety. Any idea who we should return it to?" He took the bundle of cloth, and unfolded it. El'druin still lacked its divine glow, but it was unmistakable.

"El'druin!" Johanna put a hand over her mouth. "That's Tyreal's holy blade... he would never discard it."

"He gave it to me just before he exploded. After I was sent back to the warehouse, I couldn't hold it, or it would burn my hand." Lucio covered it back up, and offered the wrapped blade to Johanna. "Maybe you should hold onto it? I know you'll take good care of it, and maybe we can return it to the other angels."

Johanna just shook her head. "If Tyreal placed it in your hands, then that is the place for the blade, Lucio. He clearly held high hopes for you."

"Me? But... I'm just a normal man."

"I know it's been a tough few days, but don't put yourself down to the level of normal people. They would have snapped like simple twigs after the hell you were just put through, whilst you stand strong."

Lucio looked at the bundle. "Okay. At least, can you show me how to take good care of this?"

"Why, of course."

Lucio managed to get a smile through his inner turmoil. "Thanks. Means a lot to me."

* * *

The wait until the portal opened was largely silent. Everyone comforted Lucio. Lucio tried to comfort everyone. There was no hint of the zerg finding them here, perhaps having pulled out of the area entirely.

And eight hours and thirty-three seconds after they'd arrived, a portal opened. A small rift, hexagonal in shape.

"Okay, let's get through, folks." Raynor was on his feet quickly, shepherding the team through. In five seconds, they were all back in the room they'd been sent from, and the gate to the factory world was closed.

Mira looked at the four people to come through. "...Can I shut the portal yet? Or have we lost one?"

"Don't joke about-" Lucio started tiredly.

Raynor held a hand across him. "The complex was completely rusted over, and the zerg were already there." He said as clearly as he could, looking Mira in the eyes.

Lucio looked around the rest of the room, and was worried to see there was no shock on anyone's face. If anything, the look on Matthew was... inevitability.

Mira just nodded, and shut the portal, before sitting on the table. "They showed up to our mining operation mere moments after we did, in force. I was able to hold things together long enough for us to escape, but since there was no way they could have known about that... I feared the worst."

"WHAT?" Raynor yelled. "You could have come and bailed us out, you know?! We lost someone down there, and I don't know if you've noticed but we're hardly swimming in able men in this place."

"Okay, okay, I screwed up. I get it." Mira put her hands up. "But I chose not to go down there because I might have walked myself into another trap. I decided I would open the portal on schedule, so you could plan around it if you were still alive."

"Calm down." Lucio said. He noticed a flicker of indignance on Raynor. "...Okay, I know you're not really losing control, I just... don't want us all throwing blame around, it won't help. Mira... I just have to say..." He took a second, controlling his tone carefully. "I'm not gonna try and demand you fix everything. But you know you messed up. Don't let it happen again. Please."

"Since you ask so nicely." Mira said half-mockingly, half-seriously.

Lucio couldn't decide if he hated her for that. But he shoved the thoughts aside.

"For now, I think it would be best if we all got some rest." Johanna offered. "If there are any reports, I shall take care of them. The rest of you may depart, unless there is an urgent matter."

"Leave the reports to me, okay? If you could run through any other plans Mira has and fix them, that'd be great." Said Raynor. "Lucio, Valla- you two wanna go and clean yourselves up? I'll make sure you're not sent out tomorrow."

"Thanks, Raynor. Really." The caring of his teammates was a bandage over the wounds on Lucio's heart, and a much-needed one as he walked out of the room, world around him blurred apart from one sword and a box on his side.

 **Author's notes: Damn, the one really depressing bit ended up happening at Christmas for all you guys. Sorry. Things should look up a little from here, and I think I'll do a few smaller excursions that are just designed to help flesh out characters through their interactions with each other before I advance the main plot more.**

 **On Brightwing and Dehaka's relationship as a team thus far... I am trying to build things from the ground up without putting either out of character. Rather than making one instantly trust the other, or bring each other around to their ways of thinking, I'm giving them points to disagree on, to argue over. I hope that will work out...**

 **Reviewer answers!**

 **TJtrack99: Tyreal was always awesome, and shall remain so. Personally I find the most iconic thing about him to be his Holy Ground, and the sheer number of uses it has.**


	18. Chapter 18: Preparations

Johanna put the pen down on the desk. It was an interesting device to her- she could see the principle of it, where ink was applied to a tiny metal ball on the end to allow it to write, but it also made her wonder just how good the craftsmanship of the Terrans was, to keep the ball in place and control how much ink was released onto it without magic.

And it was apparently commonplace, an item they made so many of that it was cheaper than cloth or fruit. It did make her think.

Regardless, the pen had helped her fill out the reports that related to the mission with Raynor. The reports of this world were seemingly a lot more than those of her own, as well. She'd expected it would just be some notes of enemy troops and tactics to pass on to the local scholar, but this contained a lot of information, condensed into as few words as possible. The whole thing took about half an hour.

However, no matter how much the world around her was intricate and detailed, she had other concerns. Raynor had finished his report a little ahead of her, and there seemed to be a lot in the 'additional notes' box. She set hers aside. "Do you believe Lucio will be okay?"

"Probably not." Said Raynor. "But he'll get back up. Might need a while."

"...My thoughts exactly." She replied softly. "There is a strength inside his good heart."

"Anyhow, I'm gonna hit the bar. Need it after today. We ought to all meet up and send Tyreal off, but better leave it for tomorrow, when we're not this beat up."

"Indeed. I think I could use the company of my fellow Nephalem right now. I do hope they will not be disheartened by the news." Johanna picked up her shield from the corner of the room, and slung it over her back. She made for the door, and Raynor went for another one.

"See ya tomorrow, miss."

"Farewell for now."

* * *

Raynor was surprised to find the bar on the Hyperion so full. Many marines and mercenaries were at the tables and counter. Now, of course the bar would be active, crowded even. It was a bar and it was late. But it was truly packed.

A few people shuffled aside to let Raynor through. He made his way over to the counter. "Hey, man. Busy night, huh?"

The barkeep nodded. "Yeah." He took a second to slide a few glasses down to another hard-working server. "You hear what happened?"

"Nope, just finished up my report. We talking bad or good?"

"Mira's little mining trip got picked up by the zerg." Said the barkeep. "And they turned out in force, alright."

"Oh, damn. She mentioned it, but I had no idea she'd taken this many men." Raynor pulled up a barstool. "I'll take the usual."

The barkeep poured out a whisky, and dropped two ice cubes into it. "...You sure we're making the right choice, letting Mira run around and make decisions for us?"

"Well, I ain't too happy with her performance. Think I'll have to keep an eye on her, maybe make some choices in her place. But we gotta work together here." Raynor said certainly. "At the very least, she seems to have a good idea of how we're going to beat the zerg, even if I haven't gotten into the fine details of it."

"Oho, does she now?" The barkeep leaned in. "Well, she's clinically insane, so spill the beans on this plan of hers."

Raynor chuckled. "Nope. With the zerg finding out so much they shouldn't somehow, better keep that one to myself for now."

"Well, you just watch your back out there Raynor. Danger's on all sides, and I wouldn't want to lose my best customer."

* * *

Matthew looked at the plans in front of him. Mira had marched into his office late at night, as expected. Although Matt wasn't expecting her to drag his chief engineer Swann up here with her.

She confidently slapped a memory drive onto the desk. "Okay, Matt. This is my endgame for Kerrigan."

Matthew picked up the drive, and loaded it into his adjutant. "I'm glad you're working on this plan, but what about that generator? How much fuel do we have left in it?"

"About twenty hours." Answered Mira, her tone a little fearful. "I'm going to personally get some fuel for it tomorrow."

"I see... well, what's your plan?" Matthew looked back to the robotic assistant. "Adjutant, open Mira's plan."

Mira stepped forwards. "I mentioned it in passing earlier, but to remind you- Kerrigan is just hanging over us. Not moving. So we're going to build an anti-orbital cannon in this wide open space her swarm was kind enough to clear out on my streets."

"An anti-orbital cannon? I... that would take months to construct." Matthew put a hand on his head. "Even with unlimited resources, we'd need about six months to make a working prototype, and then working out the issues... without tipping off Kerrigan..."

Swann grinned. "Yeah, that's what I told her. But..." He was a short, stocky man. As close to a dwarf as you could get without actually being a dwarf. And complete with a robotic arm to make Torbjorn jealous.

"There's a reason I have the highest bounty on my head in the sector, save for Kerrigan." Mira gestured to the adjutant. "Adjutant! Open the blueprints!"

"Acknowledged." Droned the adjutant, and a hologram started to flicker. A diagram of a large cannon, rotating in place. Boxes of data offered themselves to be tapped, all labeled for sections of the cannon.

"This is a project by the Drakken company, intended for exactly what we're going to use it for. I've got all kinds of spoils, and I knew something in them could help us." Mira walked over to the hologram, and brought up the specifications. "Compatible with SCVs for construction. Made entirely with parts that can be commonly fabricated. Estimated build time of two weeks, mineral cost of fifty thousand units, and gas cost of two thousand. We can do it."

"Dare I ask how you obtained that blueprint before our own military?"

"It was actually a commission by Arcturus, along with the Odin! But then he died before it was useful, and we got sent out as debt collectors. Snagged this bad boy as a bit of extra payment." Mira explained. "Anyways, why are you questioning it? This is our ticket to victory!"

"...You're sure it can bring down the leviathans?"

Swann nodded. "I've checked the specs. This is one hell of a peashooter, lemme tell you."

 _One hell of a peashooter. Not how I'd choose to describe something that can bring down a whole Leviathan in one shot._ Matthew checked the prints some more, looking for any possible flaw on the plan. "When this fires... the shockwave will kill anyone in a two mile radius."

"Not if they're inside the Hyperion!" Countered Mira. "And I've been meaning to remodel the house anyways. Needs a two-person bed."

Matthew sighed. "Alright. I'm in. I'll get Raynor's opinion, just in case. And we'll have to work out what needs to take priority."

"That's okay, it'll take us a while to gather all the minerals anyhow. Night night, Matt!" Mira slipped out of the room.

Swann watched her go, and wandered over to a chair next to the desk. He pulled a lever on his mech arm. "So, we got twenty hours to find some diesel or the safety bubble goes down? I heard that right?"

"Unfortunately. You couldn't make some?" Asked Matthew, already knowing the answer.

"Nah. I'm the best damn engineer in Koprulu, trust me. But I don't have a monkey's on how to make raw oil that we could distill into diesel. Wait, hell, distilling's for petrol. And even that's old knowledge next to vespene. Bloody Mira, finding a relic of a generator like that to run our collective life support."

* * *

Lucio staggered into the room he'd been given in Mira's tower, kicked off his broken skates, ripped off his shirt, gently removed his sonic amplifier and other gear, placing it on top of a counter, and fell straight onto his bed. A tiny part of him told him that was going to get the sheets horribly dirty and that he _needed_ a shower first, but he felt so tired.

And sleep, of course, didn't come. He lay face down for a while, before the door opened.

"Lad, I heard what happened." Muradin could be heard clomping across the floor, evidently still in full armour. Probably holding his hammer and axe too. "Awful sorry to hear it."

"..."

"If you want to be left alone, lad. I understand." Said Muradin. "You want me to get anything? Ale? Extra blanket? Food?"

"I'll..." Lucio took a deep breath. "Thanks man, but it's okay."

"Hm. If yer sure." Muradin tossed his axe onto his bed, where it clattered against his hammer. He bent down, opened a set of draws, and pulled out a grindstone of all things, sitting down. "...You reckon you'll be in any state to to fight tomorrow? Don't worry, I know how it is. Worked with my own mercs once or twice."

"I don't feel good. Pretty much just... a pit of despair." Lucio said dramatically. "I'm trying to get over it, I don't want to drag down morale. Might need to sleep on it."

"You do that. It'll do ya good." Muradin hopped up onto the bed, and started working on the edge of his axe with the grindstone. "Don't mind me, just got tae keep this sharp."

For a while, Lucio watched Muradin grind his axe. Slow, controlled motions that were removing the tiniest amounts of metal from the edge of the blade, honing it to a finer point. With each move, a little bit of powder fell onto the floor from the stone, steadily making an awful mess on the carpet.

"You're pretty good at that." Said Lucio, eventually.

"Thanks. Gotta take proper care of yer stuff, right?"

"Right." Lucio's mind moved to a cloth bundle he'd carefully placed on top of his draws. The draws themselves were empty, save for a white shirt and some spare socks and underwear. The bundle was the only item there that was actually valuable- or rather, the contents of it. "Hey, Muradin. I've got Tyreal's sword."

"Really?"

Lucio reached over and picked up the bundle, as careful as he could. He sat with it on his lap, and unwrapped El'druin. The blade was still devoid of the shining power it had when Tyreal was wielding it, and caked in dirt and dust, but in the dim room you could see that it had a faint glow to it. "I want to take good care of it. Tyreal did. I've asked Johanna to show me how, but do you know anything?"

"Not really. That's not something made by dwarves, I'll tell you. Most of the time, legendary weapons keep themselves in shape unless something breaks 'em. Still, nice of you to treat it properly."

"That's good. I'll keep it safe until Tyreal comes back. How long will it take, do you think?"

Muradin shrugged. "No idea, lad. Never more than a year, though. I'm sure you'll have no problems getting on his good side again."

"...That makes me feel a bit better, actually." Said Lucio gently. "He's a hero. He'll be back. Death's not forever, not like back home."

"Still rough losing him."

"Yeah." Lucio wrapped up the sword again and replaced it on the drawers. He lay down on his back, up at the ceiling. The knowledge that the parting wasn't forever was comforting, but it was harried by guilt at it happening at all, and at thinking about Tyreal's life like it was something cheap and replacable.

A few minutes passed, and eventually, Lucio finally managed to form one basic thought, breaking through the past few hours of misery. "...I need a shower."

* * *

Brightwing followed Dehaka into the overlord, which proceeded to warp back to Stukov's ship. Nervousness quibbled in her stomach, at the thought she'd gotten his base blown up, amplified by the fact that Dehaka had plainly stated that he was going to follow Stukov's orders over her wishes, no matter how important Lucio was to her.

"You, smell nervous. Why?"

"H-huh?"

"Is there, danger?" Dehaka was lying next to her. The chamber inside the living space balloon was large, but full of infested terrans Stukov was retrieving, cutting available space down severely.

"No. Worried Stukov will be mad. Got his house blown to bitty bits." She looked around. "Um... and..." _I'm worried I damaged our potential friendship by suggesting we go against orders. Double worried, because I still want to keep my other friend safe._ "...N-nothing, friend. Brightwing happy you care!"

"Stukov... I, think, should be, pleased." Dehaka answered. "He can, replace his, building."

"Oh. That is good... what about infested tarr... terr... persons? Got blown up." Brightwing was forced to shuffle in closer as one of the infested in the room stumbled backwards.

"Do not care." Said Dehaka bluntly. "Not useful in essence, or with brain. Only strength, in number. Few were lost."

"Okay." She didn't question it. They weren't friends, and apparently didn't have the capacity to be. Nor did any leave enough remains to eat, so... why care? There were other things to care for. "Friend okay? All tense, and jumpy."

"I am, alert. You should be, too."

"..."

The journey only took a few minutes. Forming a stable warp tunnel took time, but traversing it didn't. The overlord came to a halt, and opened up, the infested within quickly dropping out and heading out into the ship. Dehaka jumped down into the bay with them, and Brightwing glided down with ease.

One infested whose only notable feature was a missing eye stayed behind as the rest left. "Stukov will..." He wheezed, "See you on the... bridge..."

Dehaka nodded. "We, go."

The bridge seemed to lack the same awe-inspiring presence that it had the first time around. The doors were still great slabs of wood and steel, and the room was still organised as the perfect area to direct a war effort. But without Zagara's threatening presence, or the fear of the unknown, it was much easier to bear.

Stukov himself was sat at the table, eyes closed. The moment Dehaka pushed the door, his eyes snapped open. "Just a short debriefing." He started. "We've not confirmed our kill on that floating suit of armour, but it seems highly probable." He said, without much emotion. He considered his next words a little. "I'll deploy you again as soon as opportunity presents, so go and feed, and get some more of your pack ready. You can bring a few more, since they seem to keep getting wiped out with only fifty. I shall handle the logistics."

"I, understand. Returning to, my leviathan." Dehaka looked at Stukov, unable to read anything of the man, in either scent or body language. He was a strange being, indeed... He was vaguely aware Brightwing was a little anxious, but at the same time there was an excitement to her. Probably something to do with that 'friends' thing she kept mentioning.

Stukov paused for just a moment. "And... Good work."

Dehaka considered leaving, and did move back a bit. But something snagged him. Brightwing never seemed to be on-guard for threats, and he wasn't going to let her valuable magic abilities be lost because he didn't keep an eye on her.

Stukov raised on eyebrow, just a little. "Do you have something to report?"

"Um... Brightwing would like to be friends!" She said hopefully. "Curious about you! I think you are good. Scary, but not as scary as this friend." She reached out a hand and patted Dehaka's shoulder. "Or as scary as queen of spikeys. So... friends?"

"..." For a rare moment, Dehaka could tell exactly what emotion Stukov was holding. Confusion, rapidly resolving into a judgement. "Do not think yourself held in any greater importance. I will... tolerate... this childish display if you are willing to show loyalty in exchange."

For just a tiny moment, Brightwing's growing energy stuttered. But, she seemed to sweep aside the concern she'd snagged on, spurred by the success that was so close. "...Will be loyal!"

"Very well. If that is the price I pay for loyal operatives, then consider us formally..." He seemed to need to manually get the last word out, like a teenager forced to play a younger sibling's game. "Friends. Now, carry out your orders and prepare for your next deployment."

"Yes friend!" She turned and soared out of the room, and it was plain to see she was nearly drunk on happiness, flying in a bouncy line with a few laughs.

Stukov scratched his head, and watched Dehaka turn and follow after her. _Well, that was unexpected. But an increase in reliability for nothing more than lipservice isn't an offer to turn down._

* * *

The night passed by. Mira woke early, and checked on the generator. It was still chugging away, coughing out nasty fumes into the room's air vent. The fuel gauge was past halfway to empty. Sometime this evening, it would run dry, and the psidestroyer would stop functioning.

Kerrigan would then come down like an avalanche, so preferably that would be avoided. Mira stepped out and locked the room, before picking up her shotgun and holstering it. She clapped her hands together and bounced on the balls of her feet. "Okay! Time to avoid dying horribly, business as usual." She said, with a bit of pep.

Time to get a team together, and get that diesel.

She strolled over to her shooting range, considering her options. Lucio wouldn't be a good choice after yesterday... and really, that 'dream team' of five were all a little battered. So, how else to comprise her vanguard?

She considered her plans carefully, staring down the alley of shredded targets. Her own mercenaries were good, but not as elite as the heroes. Great for when an operation needed plenty of guardsmen, and handy in a fight, but simply outclassed here. So, what roles to cover? She knew she wanted a medic, and someone suited to carrying the diesel back. A frontline protector would probably be important if the zerg got involved. In fact, maybe a dedicated zerg slayer would be worthwhile. And that left one slot open... second healer? Second tank?

But who could fill those roles? Matthew would know.

She walked over to the Hyperion, still grounded just outside her tower. It was strangely quiet throughout Deadman's port, a place she was used to seeing full of noisy life. Only the occasional guard was about. On board the battlecruiser, there was again an odd lack of people.

That was explained when she passed by the canteen, the smell of bacon and eggs catching her attention, along with the hubbub of conversation. Looking in there for a team seemed like a good idea, and her judgement certainly wasn't hindered by the prospect of a decent breakfast that she hadn't had yet.

So, with a fry-up in hand, Mira sat down at a table, surrounded by mostly unfamiliar faces. "Morning, everybody."

"Good morning!" Called Li Li, three seats away. She was pouring tea for Rosa, who was sitting opposite.

Morales seemed a bit surprised to see Mira here, taking her teacup. "Mira Han. Are you looking for someone?"

"You could say that..." Mira leaned over. "I'm putting together a team to help me retrieve something critical to our survival. Any reccommendations?"

"Sounds fun." Li Li said. "I'll go!"

Morales looked like she'd just noticed a stick of dynamite on her plate. "Li Li, are you sure? It's extremely dangerous out there. I should go instead."

"C'mon, I'm tougher than I look! Ooh, or we could go together?" Li Li rubbed her hands together. "And you could bring Hammer too!"

Mira lit up. "Having a siege tank would be nice. And great for transporting what we retrieve. I think we still need someone good at holding a defensive wall, though... and maybe someone nice and nimble."

"Oh, I know a guy! He's called Greymane, and he's sitting right there." Li Li pointed over to the other end of the table, where Varian was discussing something with his generals. "Maybe you could get Varian to help you, too?"

"I'll be right back." Mira leaned away, going over to the small group of Alliance and sitting down. "Morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm here to ask if Greymane is available?"

"I'm available if your last name is 'Wrynn'." Greymane said, looking at Mira as if she were insane. "And if you're about to address King Varian, I would hope you'll show the proper respect."

Varian put a hand on Greymane's shoulder. "It's okay. Given the situation, I think we ought to hear her out at least."

"I'm looking for someone who's mobile, ideal for fending off attackers that could try to ambush us. Someone with good reactions and the power to slay beasts. We're going to be going on a mission to retrieve some fuel for the generator for our 'safety bubble'."

"Ah, that is quite important..." Varian put a hand on his chin. "I'll gladly lend aid, but I do want to negotiate something in exchange for it."

"Well, lay it out. I'm no stranger to hiring people to kill things."

"I want to send Uther and Jaina back to the world you called us from." Said Varian. "My people have been left without several important leaders for days now, and I fear for them. I agree that we must end the threat these zerg pose, so I'll stay behind- but I cannot leave my people alone."

"Now, that's quite a high price..." Mira considered things. Both were powerful magic users, one of the key advantages her side had over the zerg. And sending those two home could well spark a wave of others wishing to leave. "Hmph. I suppose I'm caught in a dilemma."

"I assure you, I will fight every bit as hard as them." Varian said confidently.

"I'm afraid I can't do that openly." Said Mira. "If I were to send someone home, it would weaken our position here. And I don't want to give up magic users, either." She thought on things for a few moments, searching for an idea. "I'm willing to send back messages that your commanders can read, in exchange for your help. Will that suffice?"

"...It's far from ideal." Varian frowned. "As much as I believe in this cause, you're asking me to leave every loyal person to me on minimal support."

"I can send messages daily." Mira pushed, hoping that would sell the endeavor. "And I can pay, too. In goods or resources. I don't have any of your coins."

"...Jaina, do you think we can hold Alterac with only a daily exchange of orders?" Asked Varian.

"It's plausible, since they're without some of their own major players." Jaina answered. "But I fear that Garrosh means the horde will get aggressive."

"..." Varian nodded. "Very well. I don't make this decision lightly, but we'll stay if you send our messages twice a day. That is my final offer."

"Taken! Pleasure doing business, and you and Greymane can come down to my hangar in half an hour. Just ask Morales for directions if you need them." Mira scooted away, and finally got around to her breakfast.

* * *

The five heroes she'd selected assembled in the hangar she'd repurposed, along with Mira herself. The briefing had been short. And they hadn't set off yet.

Mira pretended to roll her sleeve back and check her watch. "Where's Matthew's team? It's half past time we left."

"Oh? You're running another mission in parallel?" Morales said. "You've got your superiors' permission for that, I take it?"

"Bug off, UED." Mira rolled her eyes. "I AM the superior here. It's my town, with my army of mercs. And my husband."

"I'm no longer a member of the UED armies." Morales said almost automatically. "...Don't bring them up."

It took a few minutes, but the door opened again and another group walked through. Matthew was at the forefront, with a handful of marines behind him. Raynor was among them, his black armour easily visible against the blue.

"Matthew, you're late!" Mira crossed her arms. "Tsk, unprofessional."

"Sorry. It was urgent." Matthew stepped aside. "This time, we've taken the liberty of setting up our own contingency plan. You'll need to come over to the next bay to send us off."

Mira was intrigued, and followed them out of the room. "A plan, hm? What is it?"

"As you know, this is just a mining operation for the day. So we can use static defences. And to that end, I've convinced Ragnaros to set up a ring of lava around the mineral cache we'll be mining. Add in some anti-air from our own forces and a gryphon rider Raynor found in the bar, and we think we can hold our position for an hour safely." Matthew listed off easily.

"...Isn't Ragnaros that twisting fire thing with a hammer that keeps shouting about insects?" Mira asked.

"Yes, that's him."

"How did you convince him to help?"

Matthew shrugged. "I think he's out for blood against the zerg anyway. I was planning to hold your threat over him, since we don't really have a way to appeal to living lava."

"Hmm... You know, I always wanted a secret base with a lava moat. Ever since I was a little girl." She smiled. "Although, I suppose lava moats are a bit outdated now that we have battlecruisers and spider mines."

As she stepped into the bay Ragnaros had been confined to, the first thing she decided was that it was too hot in here. The air was like an oven.

Apparently, Raynor and the small group he'd gotten together agreed. Raynor had his visor down, Falstad and his mount were standing next to one of the air vents, and Uther was standing defiantly, covered in sweat.

"AH, THE MORTALS." Ragnaros boomed. "HOW CAN I ASSIST IN THE BURNING OF THE INSECTS?"

"I'll send you on your merry way now, Rag." Mira put a hand over her singularity. "Still heading out, Raynor?"

"Gotta help. And anyway, I recruited these folks for the guard job. Hopefully this won't go as disastrous as the last time."

"Okay, bye then." Mira waved a hand, and a huge portal blossomed open. SCVs trundled through, followed by the marines and guards. Then the heroes followed. She relaxed, and the hexagonal gateway closed. "Ahh, much cooler. Maybe I should be looking into a geothermal power plant for the next Deadman's Port?"

"Already planning to build a new base?" Asked Matthew.

"Deadman's Port is the mercenaries that live in it. Not the buildings that make it up." Mira said casually. "Anyways, I'll be off now. Wish me luck! Or we'll all die."

 **Author's notes: You know, I'm really enjoying building up Brightwing's friendships from nothing. Still have a long way to go on them, though.**

 **Anyhow, from here the overarching plot is set (Build an anti-space cannon) and I'm going to run a few smaller plots through all the missions to gather minerals or supplies. I think you'll find them interesting enough.**


	19. Chapter 19: Resources

Mira didn't tell anyone, but she had no idea where she was sending herself when she opened her portal. She just focused on opening a gateway to the nearest tank of diesel. She pictured a nice, generic fuel can, and went for it.

So, she was somewhat surprised to find her team appearing on Braxis Holdout. The place was easily recognisible. Below was the starport the Hyperion had taken off from. This orbital platform was large, about five or six football pitches overall.

"Huh. Never knew they stocked diesel here." Mira commented, closing the portal behind her. A wall was stacked full of green vespene canisters.

Hammer's tank rolled to a stop. "They don't. Not in this particular depot, anyway." She threw the hatch on top open. "But we ought to grab that vespene!"

"Right you are. Just give me a moment..." Mira threw it into a pocket dimension, the thirty or so barrels vanishing instantly. She brushed her hands together, and grinned. That storage trick had very rapidly become her favourite power as a realm lord. Although these effortless portals were certainly nice.

"Wow. That was pretty cool." Li Li noted, before looking around the platform. "Now, what are we looking for?"

"Leave that to us, sweetie." Morales said. "We need to keep an eye out for any danger, and this is somewhere you haven't seen-"

"I'm looking too, Rosa!" Li Li huffed. "It's important, so we all need to look for it."

"...My apologies."

Li Li looked in confusion at how quickly and sincerely Morales seemed to apologize for something that was barely even a slight. "I... um, nothing to be sorry for. I just want to make sure we get what we came here for."

"Of course. I should have thought about that." Morales rubbed the back of her head, looking at a wall intensely in case of a hidden compartment.

Hammer could see the flustering on the medic from atop her tank easily. It was no secret that Morales loved pandas. Making friends with a talking one was probably close to her wildest fantasy.

Hammer leaned back, and whispered to Jaina. "Heh. She's _totally_ smitten."

"Li Li is a little young..?" Jaina whispered in concern.

"Not romantically, dummy. I'm just saying, Li Li could probably ask her to walk off a cliff and she would."

Jaina looked on for a few moments. "I hope they can keep each other safe, in these dangerous times. It's nice to see them become friends."

"As long as I'm still her buddy in a siege tank." Hammer got back into the driver's seat, and put her tank into gear with a nice mechanical clanking. "Alright folks! We better get rolling!"

* * *

Kerrigan frowned, as two portals were opened in quick succession by Mira. She could detect them clearly, her own singularity attuning her mind to their presence.

How? How was it possible for Mira's powers to be so great? Opening a portal and holding it drained her power in mere seconds. She could deflect the Purifier Beam, or create matter from nothingness, but... If Mira could so easily display power like _that_ , then was she even in a winnable position?

But... Mira hadn't displayed any other power like that. Not when she went to try and set bombs in Abathur's leviathan. Not when she was defending her city. Not when she was pushing off the assault on her mining operation yestarday.

The conclusion Kerrigan drew was that the singularities had specialisations. Mira's had to be opening portals. But that raised a new question: What was the ability hers specialised in?

She put that train of thought aside. 'Stukov, we've got two excursions. Looks like one's to an orbital platform on Braxis, and the other's to some barren world we don't care about.' The fine details of exactly which orbital platform, and the insterstellar coordinates of the planet were whisked over the hivemind in haste.

'Understood. I'll head out as soon as I finish with Abathur.'

Kerrigan was a little interested as to what manner of bioweapon Stukov was recieving, and took a look through his eyes.

Abathur was gesturing to a nightmarish thing that she recalled slaying. The first of her experiments on turning heroes to her side by infestation- and preserving their supernatural abilities. This one was an amalgamation of corpses. All sewn together as something that was barely even recognisible as bipedal, and it was somehow alive, in defiance of all biology she knew.

But, after stabbing it a few dozen times and throwing it to Abathur, Kerrigan was sure that Stitches would give up its secrets.

It stood there. Stitches didn't fit it as a name so well now, after Abathur had worked on it. The flesh had been melded together to create something that had a coherent skin, and the second mouth was now filled with much sharper teeth.

"What want?"

Stukov looked at the thing. "You will serve my commands."

Abathur interjected to explain. "Unit, Aberration Stitches. Have preserved original abilities, enchanced. Use to abduct target enemies."

"I see... I'll apply viper tactics." Stukov murmured. He turned, and established a hivemind link to the aberration. 'Follow me. We must not waste any time.'

* * *

Dehaka regarded the room as Stukov explained his plans for today's mission. Two portals had been detected, like yesterday.

"Dehaka, take your pack and go to the isolated world. You'd be disadvantaged in Braxis. Your priority is to secure enemy heroes for infestation- and to avoid harming anyone from Koprulu unless absolutely necessary. We need them to win the war back home."

"Yes..." Dehaka growled, keeping an eye on that hulking thing behind Stukov. He'd seen plenty of things that he was tempted to collect from before, but nothing quite like that. Even from here, he was sure that it somehow held many seperate essences- an impossibility, but undeniable. However, he would not betray the swarm now. Not while Amon hung over Koprulu...

"I will send one of my Overlords to retrieve you as soon as Kerrigan informs me the enemy depart. In the meantime... I shall... provide 'convincing' resistance to the other operation." Stukov said. "I'm unsure what they seek, but it must be critical for Mira to put herself at risk. Now, take your pack and go to the overlords in the hangar."

Dehaka walked off, and into the hangar. About a hundred and fifty zerg were at his disposal this time, plus Brightwing. Even with a force three times larger than the last one he'd used, he wasn't feeling optimistic about his chances. It had been clearly shown that the heroes they tried to prey on were capable of turning the tables in situations anything else would have been ripped apart in.

"Friend okay?" Chirped Brightwing.

 _How did she pick up on that?_ "We should, be, wary. These enemies, are, dangerous."

"Yes... but we are dangerous-er! And they are not friends, so we will fight together better than them."

"We, must not, collect from the wrong, ones..." Dehaka growled in annoyance. "Such little essence to collect... Stukov..."

"Essence... um... essence?" Brightwing tilted her head in confusion. "Different to meat?"

They stepped into the hangar, where overlords were already filling up with the attack force. Dehaka thought on how to answer that question, as he went up to the one in the centre. "Essence... contains, sequences. Can use essence, to change. Meat... yes, that is essence."

"Oh. Well... maybe... Brightwing can help friend! Could go and hunt while friend sets up pack."

"...No. Stay, close. Your abilities, are, valuable." Dehaka was serious. The healing was something he'd never seen before, a force that mended wounds without consuming any physical energy. Yet, her offer was striking. _Why is she trying so hard to serve me? It must be to try and escape... A trick. I should stay cautious._

* * *

Mira walked through the orbital platform swiftly, followed by the team she'd assembled. Varian looked at the planet below often as they walked together, a vast sphere of dusty brown ground, with great stretches of water. The orbital platform was moving over some mountains, and they were close enough to see them speckled with light blue mineral crystals that hed yet to be harvested for the experiments and construction that took place on Braxis.

Of course, now it seemed unlikely those experiments and constructions would ever finish. In Koprulu, Braxis had been victim to awful positioning, and was struggled over by the UED until it was abandoned. And now here, it was falling into infestation. In a week or two, great plains of the ground would be coated in creep, pulsing with structures that would produce more armies for the zerg to throw at their enemy.

"Isn't it fantastical, Jaina?" Murmured Varian. "I'd never thought it possible for me to see a place like this. Even if we'd built a ship like the Draenei, it wouldn't have been in my lifetime."

"It is indeed a special view." Jaina agreed. "And one that poses a great many questions. The very objects that we mages draw power from exist in this vast expanse of space- the sun, stars, moon... What else could be out there?"

"...I pray no force like the zerg awaits Azeroth beyond her sky." Said Varian, turning his attention back to the station. It appeared to be empty, but that was no excuse to leave yourself unguarded. "Though if there is, I will fight them all the same. Mira, have you any indication where the fuel you seek is?"

Mira casually looked around. "Probably over at the far end. Because where else would it be?"

Li Li chuckled. "Well, you don't put treasure at the entrance of the dungeon!" She swung one of the hoops on her staff around, and jogged forwards. "Hey Rosa, your world must have some SUPER pretty things if you're not excited about the view up here!"

"Oh. Um. I suppose we have our monuments... I've not seen most of them in person." Morales said sheepishly. "I was too caught up with medical school."

"Then we can enjoy this now!" Li Li jumped.

"...I know I was enamoured only a moment ago, but we cannot afford to be slowed." Varian said. "We need to march ahead, and be careful. There could be danger around any corner."

"The man's right." Hammer called. "Matter of fact... I think it's a little too easy."

"Nobody knows we're here, 'Bama'." Mira kept walking. She didn't voice that the zerg shouldn't have known where anyone was yesterday.

"You're gonna have to forgive me, your highness- but you're a dumbass." Hammer panned the external cameras on her tank around. There was no hint of life on the station... but the planet below was thoroughly infested. "This place has trap written all over it."

"It's not like we have a choice." Mira countered. "We get fuel today or die. And personally, I still have so much time to spend making Matthew Horner feel awkward."

* * *

Falstad flew in a wide circle around the top of the mining operation. He had to admit, this wasn't a terrible location to be digging in. The sun was hot overhead, but glared straight down and stripped away the shadows ambushers would like to hide in. And the mountainous crags meant any attacking force would be coming uphill.

But did they _really_ need to make a bargain with Ragnaros? That lava he was preparing could easily be a trap. He'd just have to move it inwards, and there'd be nothing anyone could do. Still, for the moment, things seemed okay...

At a far distance, Dehaka carefully pushed out some rock from the side of a crag. Dislodging too much might collapse the entire face, but this was easily the safest way to observe his targets. How best to approach this? He saw there was something flying above that was clearly alive, and inwardly was absolutely desperate to collect its essence.

Still, it would give away any move he made. He couldn't even get close enough to properly check out the enemy defences. Burrowing straight into the middle of the enemy base was a huge gamble, and could easily end in all his forces getting slain.

If only Stukov were here. Attack tactics in open spaces were his strength. Dehaka knew he was better with ambushes and confined areas.

"What is your plan, friend?" Brightwing asked, in the tunnel behind him. "...Mutalisks getting restless."

"Snarl at them. They, will respect your, threat." Dehaka answered, still thinking about the attack he needed to plan. The order not to harm anyone from Koprulu made this far, far more difficult than it needed to be. What worth did these terrans have?

 _No, we need all the strength we can muster if we want to win against Amon. So, I must follow my orders to survive in the end._

"We must kill, that flying beast." Dehaka mused. "But, they would flee my mutalisks, to safety. Can your magic, help?"

"Brightwing can help." She affirmed, crawling up to look out of the tunnel. She also saw the single flying rider. "That is called a gryphon, friend. Have heard about them from friends outside Emerald Dream. Mean adventurers fly on them."

"How will you, help?"

"I will use windy magics to blow it down. If you are waiting below, you can slay them."

"I see... I, will tunnel to, below, the side of their hill." Dehaka explained. "Lure them, there, and blow them down."

"Brightwing will do it, friend!"

"Wait, for a short time. I must get into position." Dehaka turned with ease, even in the tight tunnelway, back towards the rest of his waiting pack. _Can I trust her..? No, but this is a calculated risk._

* * *

Stukov put his human hand on his chin, and looked at the security cameras. His goal here was to let them succeed, but to snatch away one of those three others from Azeroth if opportunity presented. The man with a sword and shield shouldn't be hard to overwhelm in theory, using such grossly outdated equipment. But he'd made it this far, so he couldn't be underestimated.

So what about the woman? A magic user, apparently. But that didn't excuse such impractical clothing. One good hit could easily incapacitate her. Although it would be difficult to land Stitches' hook on her, since she'd probably stay safely away from the front of the fight.

Or the panda humanoid. Why did they even bring that? It was a child. Barely taller than that medic's stomach. Surely it would be nothing but a liability in a fight. Or at the very least, the easiest target. Maybe it too had magical abilites...

Stukov continued to think for a little while, before making up his mind. He sent out a minor psionic call. 'Benjamin. Is the unit in position?'

'Yes, Vice-Admiral. The aberration...'

'It is the key point of my plan. Nobody is to stand in front of it.' Stukov ordered, before tapping out of the minds of his soldiers and focusing solely on Stitches.

Even though he was infested, he reviled at this... thing. It was grotesque to the core, and disgusted him in a way no other zerg of infested had managed. And he'd seen one unlucky infested who was constantly dripping pus from their eyes without so much as flinching. But this frankenstein's monster?

'Aberration.' The word suited it well. 'I will drive our enemies along the path you are watching over. We target-'

'Plaa...y'

Stukov blinked. It interrupted him? How? It had a mind? Clearly, not a good one. But a mind nonetheless. That had some dark implications.

'Stitches just want to... play... stop hurt... gonna smash...'

Stukov asserted control, silencing the voice of the abomination. 'Speak only when necessary, soldier. Here are my orders.'

* * *

Brightwing launched herself out into the air, wings spreading and catching the breeze. Enough time had passed, Dehaka seemed to tunnel through rock like it was as soft as sea foam. He'd be waiting below, while she soared above.

Instantly, she saw the gryphon rider notice her, but they were holding their position in the air. Baiting them out of position wouldn't be too easy.

She flew closer, watching the area below. The side of the mountain that she needed to crash them on was between them now. But how to get them out of position? She flew even closer. Now she could actually see the mining operation. A ring of molten lava was surrounding the entire top of the mountain, threatening to spill out at any moment.

Running into that would end badly, to say the least. If it got unleashed, then anything in the way of the lava surge would be left as less than ash. She could feel its heat on her all the way up here.

The people in the middle of that ring had to be boiling hot... With a crack of lightning, she was jolted back to reality. She'd apparently managed to get a bit too close.

"Away with ye!" Falstad came swooping down, electicity crackling around his hammer. "Treacherous zerg!"

Brightwing rolled in the air, and flew away, trying to generate some distance before Falstad got close. But with huge speed and accuracy he swung the hammer, and a shockwave of magic was flung towards her. Brightwing scrambled to dodge the blast, but it whacked against her back forcefully, as hard as if the hammer itself were there. She yelped, but kept flying. Maybe if Falstad followed, she could...

He held his position, stopping like he'd seen an invisible wall. She was just out of range now, while he glared at her. Brightwing turned, and cautiously moved a little closer. Falstad raised his hammer in warning. "Don't you try it, or I'll knock yer block off!" Another crackle of lightning flashed around his weapon for emphasis.

Brightwing hesitated. Going closer would get her hit again. She'd healed her back, but a few of those hits to the face would probably be the end of her. And even so, she had to get him forwards a bit before trying to knock him to ground level.

There was only one option.

"Are you scared... or dumb?" She gave her best taunting face, tongue out. "Oh! Maybe both!" Falstad didn't budge, but did seem just a bit angrier... She tried again, and just laughed as loudly as she could manage. "Pfhahahaha!"

In the moment she was taunting, there was a sudden smell of ozone, and if Brightwing had any hair, it would have stood on end. In a split-second panic, she flapped her wings and released her anti-magic dust, and then CRACK!

A beam of lightning with immense range and power struck her, fired by Falstad. It was excruciating, every muscle she had relflexively jumping as her chest where the bolt had struck was burned along with the rest of her, and then she was falling, unable to muster up the strength to beat her smoking wings.

Brightwing hit the ground with a thud, buzzing aftershocks reverberating through her. She had no doubts the pixie dust saved her life, but even so that had really hurt. And then she saw Falstad flying down, hammer ready. "Yer done!"

She wanted to move, to dodge, but she couldn't. Falstad was getting closer, and raised his hammer to throw another shockwave, and the ground beneath him exploded.

Brightwing watched as the entire area below Falstad seemed to be thrown away like a thin cover, Dehaka lunging up and grabbing onto the gryphon. There was an instant reversal of the situation, as Falstad was thrown from his mount by the force, landing on the stones and scrambling to his feet. "Swiftwing! No!" He reached out a hand, but wasn't in position to save his mount. Dehaka had nearly bitten the gryphon in half.

And the rest of the pack was rapidly flowing out of the ground, encroaching on Falstad. He stepped back, and started running, but was nowhere near as fast as them without Swiftwing. There was nothing he could do as the zerglings ran closer-

Dehaka saw a line of marines crest the hill, with the one he recognized as Raynor in the centre. A volley of bullets crashed into the closest chasing zerglings, shredding them. Falstad ran up to safety, as the marines kept firing.

"Burrow!" Growled Dehaka. Instantly, his pack dived below ground, avoiding the hail of shots. All but one... Dehaka jumped back, gryphon held in his mouth, grabbed Brightwing with his smaller set of arms and cut a hole in the side of the mountain, feeling a good few bullets sink into him.

There was quiet.

Brightwing sighed weakly. "Thank you friend... I am a bit ouchy."

Dehaka kept digging onwards a little, before coming out into a small cavern the rest of the pack was already digging out. He carefully dropped the dead gryphon, a huge bite already taken out of it.

It was no good trying to change here, and he knew it. The essence was fantastic, unlike anything on zerus or even in all Koprulu, but... it seemed to vanish as he tried to assimilate it, as if it were never there. He snarled, and grit his teeth in frustration. To be denied the fruit of his efforts like this was torture.

"Friends need healing?" Brightwing chimed. "Guns are hurty, but I can make it better."

Dehaka noted the wounds on the reptile in his arms. She could repair all their damage, but that meant nothing if she died. "Wait." He instructed.

"Huh? W-why?"

Dehaka carefully set her down glaring at the rest of the pack. They wouldn't try stealing his kill unless they wanted to fight him, but the second he stopped staking his claim it would be devoured in a second. "You are, badly hurt. Eat. Heal." He nudged her forwards.

"Aw... very nice friend. Will try to heal everyone extra good, big thanks!" Brightwing gladly started eating.

Even if Dehaka's actions were driven by pragmatism, Brightwing was filled with gratitude... and Falstad's gryphon.

* * *

'Now!' Stukov looked through dozens of sets of eyes, watching as his scare force broke cover and charged. They were entirely melee infested, many of them a sub-type that worked like off-brand banelings.

"Holy shit, RUN!" Yelled Hammer, as a pair of jet thrusters sprung from the side of her tank and she blasted past the rest of thr group in seconds. "Rosa, I got you covered!"

"Li Li!" Morales grabbed the panda by the hand and started sprinting, before Li Li began to outrun the medic.

It was panic. Pure, blind panic as all six members of the group ran for their lives from the gaggle of lethal infested that had broken cover _right behind them._ Mira glanced back and truly wished she had a grenade. Or anything that might slow them down safely, because her shotgun lacked the reach. If she could hit one, the rest would maul her.

Almost on cue, a wave of ice crashed down into the crowd, causing stumbling and chilling many to the point they really did slow. Mira stopped to turn and try to pick them off, and Jaina grabbed her, pulling her away. "It won't last!"

"Understood." Mira hunched over and sprinted ahead. "Varian, can you turn things around?"

"...I need an opening. I'll not last long against all that!" Varian looked back, watching Jaina keep up. "Are we all still alive?"

"All here!" Confirmed Morales. They ran, until reaching a small junction. "Where next?!"

Varian looked back, and tightened the grip on his sword. He could make a stand here. He'd probably die, but the rest of the group should pull through. Mira grabbed him, just like Jaina had grabbed her. "There's a bunker up there! We can hold them or escape once we're inside!"

"Let us make haste." Varian pulled his shield out, and ushered the rest of the group forwards. An infested got ahead of the others, and with one expert thrust Varian took their head off while they were at arm's length, before bringing up the rear of the team.

Hammer was already at the bunker, sieging up. Morales was on the approach, just passing a huge satellite array that might have been big enough to cover a house or two. Li Li was close behind her, and Mira and Jaina were just a little ahead of Varian.

Stukov watched them all carefully, through dozens of sets of eyes. Stitches primed his hook in anticipation. '...Now.'

The hook went flying out, biological cable trailing behind it as it soared from the tiny gap between the satellite dishes. Jaina screamed...

As she saw something lash out from the unassuming scenery, and pull Li Li away. Morales turned on a dime, and ran to see just what happened before freezing in her tracks.

Jaina got closer, and saw Li Li on the floor in front of an abomination. An abomination recognisibly from her world, but it was infested. "LI LI!" She held onto her staff and slammed the butt into the floor. "Elemental, defend her!"

A water elemental sprouted from the floor in front of the panda as Stitches brought his cleaver down, and it sunk into the body of water. It fired a few frost shots back, before infested surged forth from the shadows and tore it down in a mere second.

Li Li was on her feet, running back towards the team. "Gottagobye!" A spine zipped past her shoulder, and she swung her cane around, a whirl of dust suddenly flying up as Li Li put a foot down with poise and flipped, landing in a karate stance. She glanced back to Morales. "Are we gonna fight them?"

"No, we have to fall-"

 **"HUAAAAAAAH!"**

Varian jumped over Li Li, nearly a metre in the air, his sword high above him. He broke through Li Li's smokescreen with one great blow to Stitches' chest, knocking the abomination a few steps back. Without missing a beat, he parried the huge meat cleaver that was swung at his side and then stabbed forwards, scoring another hit.

"Stim Drone out! Varian, do NOT take a step forwards!" Warned Morales, as a beep indicated the portable drone had been deployed.

Varian had been playing the fight on pure experience, and suddenly felt a rush of pure power through every muscle he had. He shoulder-charged Stitches and then held his sword two-handed and went on an offensive blitz, cutting his foe over and over. A few infested tried to halt the utter thrashing, and were cut down like grass.

And then six seconds later, the drone ceased supplying the extra-fast-acting stim, and returned to Morales, leaving Varian facing a pile of disgusting entrails. "...They should have thought twice before picking on us." He looked up at the hill. "It wouldn't be wise to linger here. Let's get to safety- I'll cut down anything in our way!"

Morales knelt and hugged Li Li from behind, picking her up. "Ithoughtyouwereabouttodieohmygod!"

"H-hey, I'm fine... We gotta go, Rosa..." Li Li squirmed a bit. "You're embarrassing me."

Mira waved a hand. "Hurry! I've got the door open, and I'm opening a portal! Miss it at your peril!"

"Right!"

They ran the rest of the length up the ramp, leaving Stukov to mull over the failed kidnapping. That intervention with the water elemental had been unexpected. He'd need to offer absolutely no chance of counterplay with any future ambushes, even if that meant inefficient overkill. Now they'd go onwards to get the fuel as he intended, helping keep them in one place for whenever Kerrigan managed to open a portal home.

He'd obtained more knowledge from this failure. Losing one unit, however powerful, was an acceptable sacrifice for victory in the long term. Now to plan the next move- his prey would be given no respite.

Live and learn. Or die, in Stitches' case.

Well, Abathur had more minions at his disposal. And that thing would probably return to life in six months.

* * *

Brightwing landed from the second air recon she'd done, and shook her head. "No way through. Lots of buildings."

Dehaka agreed with the assessment. Between the lava moat that stopped him burrowing in safely, the anti-air turrets and ground defences, he had no hope of possibly breaching that position. So, why waste healthy pack members trying? Stukov would be satisfied with the knowledge they killed something belonging to the enemy that couldn't be easily replaced, and that would be that. Until tomorrow.

"We, leave. No use, trying to break through." Dehaka said, looking at the hilltop. He turned, and walked away. "All, healed?"

"Yes yes! Doing best!" Brightwing said instantly and happily.

"..." _A symbiotic relation, of sorts. She heals us, we help her survive. Perhaps that's what she meant by friendship?_ Reflected Dehaka. "Good."

* * *

Mira touched down on the metal of her hangar, and threw her right arm up in the air. "WHOO! Go Mira, go Mira, go Mira!" Her left arm was weighed down by a can full of liquid.

"Hey, Li Li is the one that saw the fuel tank!" Morales said indignantly.

"Then she can chant too!" Mira yelled. "We're gonna live! We're gonna pull this crazy plan off, and shove an orbital cannon up Kerrigan's ass! Hell yeah!"

"Yeah!" Echoed Li Li.

"...Victory is quite a rush, hm?" Jaina noted. "...Varian?"

"YEAH!" Varian shouted, holding up his sword. "That's the spirit, everyone!"

They all cheered between themselves for a few moments, before the sounds died down. Mira held the all-important can of fuel tightly, ans smiled. "I'll just get the other team back. Hammer, be a dear and take this to the generator. Don't try and refuel it yourself, you might blow it out. And careful, it's heavy."

Hammer grabbed the can with one hand. "Ha! Like that's heavy. Sure I'll run it over. Catch you guys later for a drink!"

Mira headed over to the other hangar. Time to see if Raynor's defence plans were any good. The notion of a lava moat popped into her head again, bringing a smile with it. With a wave of her arms, she invoked her singularity, the gem shining and opening a gateway to another planet. SCVs were lined up with huge crates of minerals, and started to trundle through with an escort of guards.

Mira was impressed to note that there were exactly as many guards as before. Things really must have gone well. Inwardly she wanted to immediately give sole credit to the lava moat, but snagged herself and decided that Raynor's tactics likely played a greater role. Funnily enough, it actually WAS the lava moat, though she'd never know that.

Raynor stepped forwards as the procession of units came through. "Stand by for report."

"You never struck me as the professional type?" Mira asked with a grin. "Letting one good op go to your head?"

"Nah. Just wanted to see how you'd react. Anyway, we got about 2000 units of minerals, not a bad turnout. No losses to my raiders, but..."

"Oh dammit, we lost another hero?"

"...Not exactly." Raynor said. He turned and beckoned over a short, shirtless dwarf. "Hey Falstad, come here." He turned his attention back to Mira. "The guy lost his gryphon. Can you do that thing where it resurrects instantly?"

"..." Mira awkwardly put her hands in her pockets. "I have no clue. I wanted to bring back Tyreal, but I couldn't. I think they need to die near me."

"But you HAVE to try! You must!" Falstad almost shouted. "I can't go on without Swiftwing!"

"Quiet down. I'm still going to try." Mira said. "Just... It's entirely possible that it's hopeless."

"Try then! Just try, I'm begging ya!"

"Alright already..." Mira held up a hand. Nothing happened. She gave her singularity a mental poke, stirring it up. Nothing. _Get_ _back here and shut this dwarf up!_

A puff of blue smoke came from Mira's hand, a few triangular shards swirling around it. It grew bigger and bigger quickly, and Mira felt a touch of panic as she felt her strength melting away, dripping out and leaving her drained.

After ten seconds she felt like death on legs, and also in dire need of a nap, but there was also a live gryphon butting it's head against her leg, with a crying dwarf attached.

"Easy..." She yawned. "Peasy. Ugh."

Now to refuel her generator while in danger of falling asleep on the spot. Joy.

 **Author's notes: Whew, this thing didn't want to come out, huh? But it's here now and nothing can change that. One step closer to my next big moment- unti, then, enjoy this filler.**

 **Reviews of any kind are appreciated!**


	20. Chapter 20: Clearing Clouds

Lucio got up, and the first thing through his head was a relieved sense of feeling optimistic about today. He could do this. He could get out there and act like a normal guy, and do all the things he needed to do. Stretching and jumping onto the floor, he looked around the room. Muradin's bed was empty, and the incredible grindstone mess was still on the floor next to it. Grey powder was steadily infusing into the carpet.

...Probably a good thing Mira had said she didn't care about the building anymore.

Aside from that, Lucio noticed a small pile of clean clothes next to the bundle of cloth that held El'druin. Walking over and inspecting them showed careful folds, that might even have been ironed. It must have been done overnight. Who would have..? Johanna maybe? Either way, fresh clothes gave him another little confidence boost.

He put his clothes on. A shower would have been awesome, but there was still no running water. With a quick moment to fix his hair, Lucio was ready to face the day, looking his normal chipper self.

"Alright, let's see... gotta fix my gun... Need to polish the sword... Get my skates back from the mechanic, drink for Tyreal, and try to keep everyone happy doing that." Lucio listed off, bouncing his weight from one foot to the other. "You've got this, Mr. Santos. Got this."

He reached down to his side, and clicked on his music player. Today had a feeling about it. Something upbeat, regenerative.

* * *

Mira was getting ready for the daily expeditions. With the most urgent concerns quelled, then she could focus entirely on procuring an absolute ton of minerals to build her cannon. Today would simply be a pair of mining missions.

She leaned on the table, and the holographic maps flickered. Raynor looked at them thoughtfully.

"So, assuming the zerg show up immediately for some bullcrap reason, where's a better location to set up shop?" Mira asked. "And what do we have to work with..?"

"Well, I got Uther and Ragnaros ready to help out anytime. We can definitely hold some nice open ground with the help of a siege tank." Raynor said, taking a close look at the hologram. "They might not like each other, but I think I can keep them working together. Now, what about you?"

"I don't think I ought to head out today." Mira said earnestly. "I've been going hard for a while now. Need a spot of rest."

"...Yeah, I know the feeling. So, who can make a good, self-sufficient team? Don't want to give the zerg a drop of blood if I can help it." Raynor said, with just a trace of bitterness. "I'm thinking I could take this lady called Cassia to round out my team, I've heard good stuff about her from Uther. As for the other group... Morales might be a decent leader out there."

As he started to work out the details, there was a knocking at the door. Exactly one man in Raynor's Raiders was polite enough to knock a door they already had access to.

"Come on in, Matt." Said Raynor, as he deleted a name from the proposed daily team, deciding that they wouldn't quite work.

Matthew walked through the door, a little out of breath. Sweating, even. "We've managed to establish contact with Artanis, sir."

Raynor lit up. "That's fantastic news! Where are they?"

"They're about two light years out, staying clear of the zerg's detection range. I made it clear that we weren't in danger, so they weren't to risk themselves against Kerrigan yet."

"Good advice. We could really use their help, though. Are they still on our side?" Raynor asked. "I mean, it's Artanis and I trust him with my life, so probably, but..."

"They're anxious for battle. All of them want nothing more than to come over here and engage a fight." Matthew said, looking at Mira awkwardly.

"Right... well, let's let them in on our plan. We still need a lot of minerals. And maybe they know how the zerg are tracking us down so fast?" Suggested Raynor.

Matthew nodded, and left the room as quickly as he could, just as Mira looked like she was about to say something.

* * *

Lucio opened the door to one of the many hangars on Hyperion. "Um... Swann? You here, dude?"

There was a resounding clanking, as a crane picked up a part that was being taken out of a machine. A huge sheet of curved steel. Lucio walked in, and saw a mountain of bluish crystals being fed through a production line, melted down and processed into metals and powders.

Swann was standing before all of that, arms crossed. "Hey kid!"

Lucio jogged across the room. "Really getting busy with those crystals, huh? How are my skates?"

Swann seemed to be beaming with pride as he walked over to a corner and picked up a pair of hardlight skates, the green lines newly fabricated. "Good as new, kid. That'll be about two hundred and fifty credits for part manufacture and installation."

Lucio's heart skipped a beat. "Oh, shoot I dont have any money..." He realised with some concern that he also had no way to generate any money, unless he was about to volunteer to work with all that equipment down there.

Swann laughed. "Just joking with you, kid! I'd have told you up front if there was a cost for a job." He tossed over the boots, and went back the the assembly line."

"Had me for a second there!" Lucio went to strapping on the familiar things. They brought a great sense of comfort, and with these on he felt like he really was back on his feet. At the very least, in a good position to recover himself more. "What are all those sheets of metal for?"

"Oh, now that's a secret..." Swann chuckled again. "Although Mira blurted it out yesterday, so you heard it from someone else. These are going to make our answer to this situation. A big ole' laser cannon!"

"Nice, my dad would be drooling over that. He always loved tech."

"Not you?"

"Hey, I'm super impressed, but I barely know the first thing about lasers. Guess I can do sonic tech, though."

"Sonic tech? I like the sound of it, kid." Swann crossed his arms. "That what's in your gun?"

"Yeah. Oh, you got the capacitor I asked for?"

Swann opened a cupboard and pulled out a gigantic box full of ziploc bags, all labelled in awful handwriting. He rummaged a bit, as the many machines behind him clanked on. "Here!" He pulled out a bag filled with small capacitors, and tossed it over.

Lucio stooped to catch it, realising there were at least a hundred in the bag.

"Take a handful. They're cheap as chips."

Lucio took a pinch, sure that he'd need a few months to use all those. "Thanks man."

"No problem."

* * *

A few hours later, Stukov watched over his daily missions. He'd gained progressively more knowledge about how to deal with his foes, but didn't intend to use it yet. A little patience could make all the difference, given the sheer number of tricks he seemed to be up against.

Tactically throwing away Stitches had been a valuable move, it seemed. He noticed that his foes seemed just a little more confident from his position as an outside observer, and on guard against a threat that wasn't coming.

He ordered his men to hold position around the mining operation. Lulling his foes into a false sense of security could work out in his favor here, since he had days to play around with.

Although what were they doing all this mining for? Surely they weren't rebuilding Deadman's Port right underneath the swarm?

He activated his holograms on the room's table, and looked at the files for the other powerful units Abathur had to offer him. Well-used, he was sure they'd be able to secure some more kills, and suppress the terrans below further.

The Anub'alisk was the first on the list. Abathur had been detailed in how this was an almost complete biological redesign, since the body they'd provided was apparently mummified. For an exceedingly long time. But the abilities worked as intended, and the experience was intact. Apparently they were designed as a burrowing zerg that could disrupt people by throwing them around on spikes... The potential to knock someone down and follow up with some ravagers (zerg with deadly acid cannons) was tempting.

A huge humanoid demon called The Butcherlisk, on the other hand, had retained a lot of the original functionalities, and was simply linked to the hivemind. The application was simple. Point it at your foes, and it keeps charging and swinging those two giant blades of bone until it can eat the target or dies. Stukov wondered if he should have sacrificed it for knowledge and a psychological advantage instead of Stitches, but this thing was terrifying. And that made it invaluable for breaking formations.

And the terran, Tychus. Captured and killed while attempting to spy on us, oddly contrary to Kerrigan's normal orders of 'spare people from our universe'. And Abathur had boldly attempted to replicate some of Stukov's infestation on it. The admiral grinned bitterly. It was nice to know that he was completely superior to something in every way, albeit that they were now likely going through the same suffering as him with even less of a mind. But the value of having one of Raynor's allies was great...

There had also been a short bit of information on the last of Abathur's subjects for infestation, something about the amphibian burning away the infestation through an unknowable force. That one wasn't ready for use yet, but seemed to have grasped Abathur's attention firmly.

Stukov sat and mused. Yes, a great deal of options were open to him. And he felt a little spoiled by the generous amount of time he'd been afforded, too. Although the restriction about anyone from his universe was annoying. He sat and plotted out a few basic strategies he could use with each of them, before taking a moment. Even if he could work tirelessly, he did need to watch over his two operations.

His men were doing well, and in position to charge should he decide to kill a few foes. Although for now, the casualties to those he had to spare would be unacceptable. For now...

And peering through a single overlord, Dehaka wasn't perfoming badly either. He could see that he'd effectively choked the terran mining operation by forming a blockade around one of the two mineral deposits, and the terran/human forces weren't equipped to try and approach him. And he was also apparently being pestered by that childish lizard. Well, decidedly not Stukov's problem.

So, Stukov continued to make plans. He was feeling quite hopeful about tomorrow...

* * *

Lucio found Johanna looking over the empty streets of Deadman's Port. SCVs were clearing away the debris of the buildings, toppling a few of the ones that had survived the battle a few days ago. The streets were covered in dust and dried zerg blood, a withered lattice of asphalt now that there were no buildings.

"Hey, Johanna!" Called Lucio. "Checking out the construction?"

"I did wonder if they were clearing things out here to help with the rebuilding." Johanna turned, and beckoned Lucio over. "It's very different to what I know, yet the principles remain the same- after you're attacked, rebuild."

"Mhm... You get things like this a lot in your world?"

"Alas. It's a rarity you meet someone that hasn't seen a village destroyed." Johanna mused. "But enough of that. Maybe there's something I could take from this, to help keep Sanctuary safe. Tell me, do you know how any of this is done?"

Lucio shook his head. "Sorry. I never really specialised in that. I was a musician before I started a revolution."

"I understand. I couldn't teach you magic. But still, do you know who I could ask?"

"...Try Mira, she oversees all this. Oh, or maybe Matt Horner. I reckon we should get to know Matt, he seems cool." Suggested Lucio.

"I'll be sure to." Johanna watched one of the last buildings topple, leaving the empty streets almost totally barren in a large circle, the ramshackle houses of Mira's survivng mercenaries enclosing it. "...Is it about time for me to teach you how to care for El'druin? I have some trouble tracking the time here. There are two suns."

"Yeah, let's go. Thanks for doing this, Jo."

"It's no problem. I'd gladly help someone who's stood with me through battle."

They walked away from the construction site, as the SCVs prepared to drill holes that would house the support beams for the anti-orbital cannon.

* * *

Kerrigan was on the verge of ripping the singularity from around her neck and stamping on it in frustration. She'd been sitting here for days, and had nothing to show for it. Not a clue about the nature of this multiverse. No idea how to return to the Koprulu Sector. Or even how to open a portal that wouldn't leave her feeling totally drained.

She willed herself to levitate away form the floor, and sparked with psionic power, mentally and physically stretching in an effort to break the boredom. No good.

"Izsha." Physical speech, instead of mental. She'd spent long enough thinking for a few weeks, in her opinion. The looming knowledge she'd have to go right back to thinking and scheming nibbled at her irritated psyche.

"Yes, my queen?"

"Do you have any suggestions as to how I unlock the powers of this thing?" Kerrigan held up the necklace, the gemstone that glowed on it shimmering.

"It is unlike any object I have ever seen." Izsha looked at the crystal for a few moments. "It is radiant with a discernible power unlike any I recognise... While use of a crystal implies a protoss origin, this object does not use psionics, nor is the metal casing a protoss alloy. As such, I suggest you do not attempt to apply any prior knowledge to the object."

Kerrigan nodded. "Okay." She couldn't keep the sour note out of her voice. "...I'll ask Stukov, then."

'Stukov!'

'...Yes?'

'Any theories about how I use the singularity?'

'...I haven't seen it enough to know much. Perhaps if you gave me some information about it, I could draw up some suggestions?'

An idea popped into Kerrigan's head unbidden. One that neatly resolved one of her problems, and would make a significant dent in the other. 'Oh, I'll give you some information alright. Tomorrow, I'll go into battle, and we'll see what it can do.'

Stukov turned the idea in his mind. Reckless, but Kerrigan wasn't known for losing fights. Especially not when she was being empowered by... whatever the Singularity was.

Kerrigan simply relished the chance to purge her boredom, and possibly make progress on the Singularity.

* * *

Lucio walked into the bar of the Hyperion, followed by Raynor, then Muradin, Valla, Johanna. "Thanks for joining me, guys. The missions go okay earlier, Raynor?"

"Not perfect, but we're making progress. Give us a couple weeks and we're gonna be in a spot to even the odds." Answered Raynor, a unique kind of optimistic about their chances that the people around him couldn't help but believe. "Anyway. We're here for Tyreal. The traditional way for anyone who's seen a fight or two."

"Yeah... I dunno if it feels like the best way to send him off... but it's the best we've got, and he deserves that." Lucio walked over the the bar. "I guess I see why there's a bar built into a ship like this, huh?"

"...The chapel for all those who don't get to die peacefully." Johanna said calmly. "Although perhaps that is too grand an attribution. It's simply the place best suited to drinking in someone's name."

"I hope we'll not need return too many times before this is done." Valla said shortly. She pulled out a bar stool and hopped on, neglecting to make eye contact with anything but the counter.

There was a decidedly different tone to when Lucio had done this the first time. He understood why this was important, to help keep moving instead of getting crushed under the pain of loss, but this loss had hurt so much more.

Sure, he'd liked Brightwing. But he'd barely known her. Tyreal had been a mutual friend who Lucio felt almost certain he could have followed to the ends of the earth. He'd seemed almost like a missing chip of Lucio's soul, the justice it so badly needed. And there was no room for false hope. He'd blown himself up entirely.

"Valla. Can you tell me more about Tyreal? There's a lot I wanted to ask him."

Valla wiped a little condesation off the side of her untouched drink. "He intervened on behalf of humanity, when the angels were deciding whether or not to destroy us. He has been our greatest ally, although we have rarely had a chance to speak."

"...Right. I wish I'd spent more time with him. I really feel like he should be..." Lucio took a second to find the word he needed. "Honoured, I guess."

"You mentioned earlier you were a bard, Lucio. Perhaps you could commit his sacrifice to a song?" Johanna said. "The angels are known to appreciate music."

"..." _I've never written about something like this before. I don't want to mess it up. But..._ "I should. But it'd have to be perfect. I'm gonna make sure he's respected, like he deserves."

"Good on you, lad." Muradin downed his third glass. "...Say, these last few days haven't been kind to you, eh? Things'll get better from here. 'Cause they can't get much worse."

"Uh, thanks Muradin..." Lucio said, relaxing a bit. "Yeah. I guess I need to get better, and make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Hey, now don't think this is on you." Raynor said knowingly. "Doesn't matter how good you are, sometimes that's just how things go. Of course, that's no reason not to try. I reckon I'm overdue to learn some new tricks. Maybe we could show each other a thing or two?"

"Sure, man. Thanks."

And the night went on.

* * *

Dehaka took stock of his remaining forces. The terrans had been unable to properly engage his pack, and Brightwing was once again showing her worth by mending their wounds. He hadn't lost anything more than one zergling that had just broken ranks and charged straight for the siege tank.

"Go."

They scattered into his leviathan, released from his calling for the moment. He was left in one of the chambers that connected to Nydus worms, and could transfer them to and from the outside.

"Hmm... Hmhmhm..."

"You, can go." Dehaka looked to the one member of the pack that was still around.

"Have question, friend."

 _More questions?_ "...Yes?"

"Brightwing... wonder about curse."

"Curse?"

"Friend talked about curse! Stops you using your... esse... um... meat! To change."

"Yes... that, is a curse." Dehaka affirmed. "I desire change, yet it does not, come."

Brightwing flew around, before looking Dehaka in the eyes. Normally eye contact was reserved for trying to intimidate someone, or watch for hints of movement, but... she wasn't afraid, nor planning to attack. "Brightwing would try breaking curse, for friend!"

"Ah..." _Is that too good to be true?_ "...how?"

"Brightwing got lots of magic! And I am good at breaking spells!"

"...Try." Dehaka watched her carefully, holding an arm at the ready. If there was a betrayal, he was sure he could strike first.

Brightwing lit up, an aura of magic spreading outwards. The faint blue pulse petered out after traveling a metre or two. "Better?"

"Do not, know." Dehaka answered. Something inside him felt a little soothed, but nothing was markedly different to before. "Will, try again, with next prey."

"Okay!"

Dehaka paused for a moment. He still couldn't understand the creature in front of him. What was driving her to act this way? He'd treated her no differently for the services she did him. "I, do not know, why you, volunteer your power. I will not give, extra care."

"Brightwing want to help because we are friends." She swooped around and landed. "Always want to help friends."

"...Still do not, understand 'friends'. Is it a, symbiotic relation?"

"Can be!" Brightwing seemed to think for a moment. "Friendship is super good. Makes Brightwing feel magical! Give me power!"

"...Does it, benefit you?"

"Not always. But feel nice!" She said earnestly.

 _Altruism, then? Maybe doing this is what fuels her magical abilities..._ "Magical power... I, want to adapt, that. Good, for survival."

Brightwing bobbed with excitement, and a few sparkles came from nowhere. "Oh, Brightwing love to teach magic! Never tried, but sound fun! ...Hungry, though. Can Brightwing start when I have eaten?"

 _I should learn this power as quickly as possible. It is invaluable._ "I, will hunt for you. Faster. Wait, in my chamber."

* * *

Raynor walked into the bridge, sure that Lucio would be fine in the morning. "Heya, Matt buddy."

Matthew looked up from his adjutant, and minimised a window on one of his computers. "Good evening, Raynor. How's your teammate feeling now?" Horner gazed out of the window, to the construction site. The grounds were cleared, and a few holes had been excavated. Work was taking place around the clock, and now the night crew were beginning to install the first of the giant support beams.

"He's gonna be alright. I know it." Raynro said confidently, staggering to the side a bit. "Hey, how are things going out there?"

"Honestly? I think it's going perfectly." Matthew took a breath. "And that's what worries me."

"Huh? I heard you right?" Raynor leaned on the dashboard, and took a good look at the construction site.

"...We're performing as fast as we can, and we haven't hit any mineral shortages yet." Matthew explained. "And we also haven't incurred any real losses of troops; and if you don't count that battle over this city before we got here, neither has Mira."

"Yeah. Sounds good, what's the problem?" Raynor asked. "You know your buddy Raynor will do what he can."

"The problem is that even with everything going perfectly, we're still on a tight schedule. Morale is shaky. Our construction has to finish before that generator breaks down, and running things consistently wears them out fast. Even if we keep up this perfect record, things are going to be close. I'm just not sure we can handle a major loss in this situation."

"I hear you." Raynor slurred. "But we've got through worse. No worries."

"...You're drunk, huh?"

"Yep. Now, tomorrow's another day. I better go get some shuteye, I reckon I'll need it."

 **Author's notes: Well, I completely glossed over the daily mission! Because nothing happened on it. Just setting up some events today, because tomorrow... oh boy.**

 **I'm going to need a few extra days for the next chapter, someone was kind enough to give me some pointers on Stukov's speech patterns and I'm going to go through and update the dialogue as best I can. I may also try and add a little extra description to my scenes, too. So, see you in a week or two!**

 **Reviewer answers!**

 **TJtrack99: I'm glad you enjoy it. As a rule of thumb, if you've picked Twinblades on Varian then Colossus Smash would have done everything they do but better. The AA damage is comparable, you get access to an amazing ability, and it works even if your enemies have blinds or slows. Ambush tactics are Dehaka's field of expertise, both in game and out. Good thing Mira has the power to resurrect the fallen... conditionally. And yes- we all want a lava moat.**


	21. Chapter 21: Wrath

Mira couldn't shake an uneasy feeling, from the moment she woke up. Her bedsheets didn't feel like warm, familiar objects she associated with safety- just cloth. The building, nothing more than a structure of concrete and metal, as if the years she'd lived in it meant nothing.

It was like something was telling her she was in danger, and she hadn't made it this far as a mercenary by ignoring that kind of feeling. But nothing suggested danger, even as she looked out for it as hard as she could.

She went over to the Hyperion, skipped breakfast, and went up to the bridge. That feeling lingered over her, almost like a cloud of panic-inducing mist. "Matt?"

"Good morning, Mira." Matthew was up before her, a cup of coffee on top of the 'extremely sensitive and expensive' dashboard. Even the great Matt Horner ignored the rule about putting coffee on the dashboard. That thing had seen way worse than some hot water and beans, and Swann could manufacture a new one in ten minutes. "Are you ready for the daily missions?"

"Yes... but I have a bad feeling." Mira said, quietly.

"What kind of bad feeling?" Said Matt, looking over to her. "Look, if you forgot to do an equipment check or something- it happens to all of us, and I'd rather you just told me. I don't exactly have the authority to punish you, anyway."

"How sweet." Said Mira dryly. "As far as I know, nothing is wrong, but... I can't shake this premonition."

"...It's been a stressful few days. Maybe you should take a few minutes to think of something that'll calm you down?" Suggested Matt, going back to put the finishing notations on some orders. The ship didn't run itself.

Mira shook her head. "I'm just going to ask that you're extra careful about today."

"Seriously? You're the one asking that?" Matthew could hardly believe the words that were reaching his ears. This was a role reversal, alright. Although not an unwelcome one for someone so orderly and careful as him. "...Of course, Mira. I'd be glad to."

"And that's why I married you!"

Matt leaned into his hand, covering his eyes. "...Don't make me regret being responsible."

* * *

"So!" Raynor called out, into the crowd. "We've got two mining missions, as per usual! We've taken the liberty of picking out some teams I thought would be good, so can I have Illidan, Malfurion, Sonya, Arthas, and Kel'thuzad as a team? I know there's a little bad blood between some of you there, but we've been careful to try and select someone to stop things getting out of control between you."

"..." Illidan glared at Arthas, making a stiff grumbling sound. "Must I?"

Malfurion looked equally displeased, but there was a hint of contemplation. "I will tolerate this, if only for our dire circumstances. Make no mistake, _Arthas_ \- our agreement to this mission does NOT reflect our opinion of you. One false move, and you will be destroyed."

"Such cold words!" Kel'thuzad quipped. "I assure you, I don't have any plans to stab you in the back." He gave a tiny, sarcastic bow.

"Your victory is assured." Arthas said, ignoring the exchange behind him.

Raynor wasn't going to admit it, but Arthas was a wild card he was deeply concerned about. The lich king had a reputation that preceded him. Varied conquests in the name of undeath, countless bastions felled and heroes slain. Cunning, skilled, and backed up with the strongest unholy magic known to man or orc. Yet here... he'd had as little presence as he could. Hence his selection of some heroes that knew his threat, to keep him in check- and his own advisor, to make the mission a little easier to swallow.

Sonya took a look at each of her companions. "Accepted. Hear me, team. Infighting will be punished."

"Duly noted." Kel'thuzad responded. "Ah, but enough about us. Who shall comprise the other team?"

"I'm gonna head out with Uther, Cassia, Jaina, and Varian. I've been meaning to learn to work with them in the field." Raynor responded. "Any complaints?"

"...I feel you are not putting me to good use." Zarya had stepped up to the front of the crowd, cannon in her hands. "If you are keeping me here, I want to be contributing, yes?"

"I hear you. I can have Matt schedule you for tomorrow, if you'd like? Be good to avoid running our most experienced squads into the ground. If you can find four people to join you, that'd be ideal."

"Understood."

"Okay folks, we move out in ten minutes. Get yourselves ready!" Raynor called.

* * *

Artanis looked at his display, Matthew horner coming across in an odd manner thanks to the terran camera equipment. The Spear of Adun was capable of recieving the transmission, regardless of sender, but it couldn't restore the video call's quality to lifelike. But that was the least of his concerns.

Matthew was in the middle of explaining his request. "Mira thinks there could be some special danger today. She couldn't tell me what, nor do I know if this is justified, but I wanted to set up a precaution."

"A sage decision." Artanis intoned. "You cannot be too careful when facing the zerg menace. What do you suggest?"

"I'll pass on the co-ordinates of the two worlds we're going to be mining on today." Matthew explained. "If you could prepare a warp to each of them, you can quickly intervene should something go wrong."

"A reasonable request. I take it you wish to hide our involvement, in case we can use the element of surprise?"

"That's one reason. But we also want to keep Kerrigan's fleet where it is. We're building an anti-orbital cannon." Matthew explained.

There was a glint of concern in Artanis' eyes. "You must remember, she was able to turn away our Purifier Beam. Do you truly think this will work?"

"Terran technology makes lasers in a different way to Protoss. I don't know the fine details, but our laser shot will travel at light speed, while yours was much slower. Even Kerrigan would struggle to react to that."

"...I see." Artanis was inwardly just a touch embarrassed that such old technology was going to perform better than his beloved Arkship, but then chided himself- Terran resourcefulness was something he'd known about for a long time. This should practically have been expected. "Transmit the co-ordinates. What will be the signal for our intervention?"

"It would be best for you to place an Observer, cutting me out of the situation. That would be more efficient." Matthew reasoned. "Intervene if it looks like the zerg are going to overwhelm one of our positions."

"Very well." Artanis said, as his display received a message. "...One other thing. Zeratul and Tassadar wish to talk to Raynor, later. They have ill news about Tychus."

Matthew grimaced. "...Understood."

* * *

Kerrigan stepped out of her command centre, leaving Izsha to oversee the room alone for the first time in too long. To say she wanted a fight now would be wrong. She needed one. Her mind was cluttered full of theories she couldn't make sense of, all revolving around this blasted gemstone.

The notion of venting all her frustrations, and also making progress on her task was an intensely invigorating one. Psionic power sparked off her almost involuntarily, her body tingling with energy. The whole swarm was at her disposal, yet right now she felt like she could rip apart a whole army alone and blindfolded.

'Stukov, are you ready?'

'Your butler has been prepared in the hangar, and I have three Overlords of Hydralisks and Roaches to follow and provide any backup support you require.'

Kerrigan smirked. Making that idiot Tychus into her personal infested butler/slave had been... a nice little bit of fun. No need to worry about saving a man who betrayed everyone he cared for, right? And failing that, she felt she could just resurrect him minus his infestation if it turned out he was really _that_ important to the universe's continued existence. 'Thank you. I'll see whether or not I need them.'

She walked over to the Aleksander, and over to the bridge. Every infested she passed either chanted 'for the swarm', saluted or got out of the way very quickly. She didn't remember ever using her control to tell them to salute, but perhaps it was just a leftover bit of training, clinging on through infestation. Either way, it felt nice. She strode up to the doors of the bridge, and pushed them open.

Stukov was standing, and neglected to salute. Dehaka was over on one side, likely just waiting to be sent on a mission. Brightwing perched on top of a swivel chair precariously, between the two.

Kerrigan looked at her two generals, and one... whatever rank Brightwing equated to. "As soon as they open a portal, we strike. I will see things to success myself today."

"..." Brightwing climbed down from the back of the chair, behind it. She whispered something, prompting Kerrigan to read her mind. Even if she was outside the hivemind, she couldn't possibly have a mental block.

'Don't like her. Stabbed me.'

 _On one hand, fair enough. On the other, "_ I can hear you."

There was an oddly musical pinging sound, and the chair rolled forwards to reveal empty space. Stukov raised an eyebrow.

Dehaka raised his tail, curling it around in front of himself. There was now a faerie dragon clinging to the end.

Kerrigan crossed her arms, unimpressed. "If we're done with the charade? Then you two should go and get ready. Swiftness is key to success."

"Brightwing did not mean to run, just... got jumpy! Was not expecting to be heard." Protested Brightwing, as Dehaka simply started walking off.

"I don't know why you even need to be in this room. The meetings are for briefing Dehaka, since he has no hivemind, and for Stukov to draw up plans." Kerrigan said irritably. "Stukov, you have the power to bar her at any time."

"I already had that power." Stukov said curtly. He fixed his eyes on Brightwing, freezing her almost like a deer in headlights. "However, I am telling _you_ to cease your worthless excuses and prepare to fight."

"Okayfriend!" She blurted quickly, before dashing from the room.

Kerrigan looked back to Stukov. "So. You'll be watching. Is there anything I need to do to make it easier to get information?"

"Try and vary your attacks. A wide variety of actions will give me more data to draw on." Stukov explained. He watched the necklace sparkle a little. It was so strangely out of place amongst the zerg. With that gold metal and blue core, it could have been a khalai design, but he already knew better. So what third party had manufactured it? It was too designed to have appeared by chance. Unless of course, magic was involved. The only thing Stukov knew about that force was that he knew nothing.

* * *

Mira went down to the hangar, still feeling that ominous dread. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn the singularity on her armour was the source of her nervousness. Then again, did she know better? She shrugged that off. She couldn't just call off their plans. Especially with the zerg literally surrounding them. If they failed, or the generator went down, then anyone not in range of her escape portal was so dead that even Kerrigan might pity them.

Hah, Kerrigan pitying someone. Not likely.

"Opening the portal." Mira waved a hand, calling on a power she was becoming somewhat familiar with. The SCVs started to trundle through, engines humming. Shortly afterwards, the assigned marines and the team of elite heroes walked through. In contrast to the heat of Ragnaros two days ago, there was a distinct chill as the two frosty undead marched past her.

After just a few moments, she was able to shut the portal. For the first time, she felt genuinely worried. Maybe she should have found some way to give them a way to call for evacuation?

 _It'll probably be fine..._ "Yeah, you tell yourself that, Mira." She murmured, before leaving that hangar, and walking over to the next.

Raynor was waiting, as always. His marines all seemed to be in good spirits, talking about something."Hey there. You okay, Mira?"

"Hm? What about you, you've been going on a mission every single day since you got here. Aren't you tired?" Mira almost instantly deflected.

"Oh, the missions aren't that tiring when you're on the defensive. Just gotta keep my eyes open, that's easy. Hell, it's a better rest than lying in bed." Raynor said happily. "Me and my boys are good to go."

"Alright, go on then." Mira waved a hand around, creating another portal to a far-off planet. "...Be careful out there, Raynor."

"Hey, when am I not?" He chuckled.

* * *

Arthas put his foot on the grey rocks of the planet he'd been sent to. The skies above were somewhat dark, and the lands barren, devoid of anything but stones and the occasional cluster of blue crystals. A few crevices littered the landscape, and probably had done so for millions of years. He knew he'd never been further from Icecrown- from Azeroth.

Yet his powers endured, the world around him chilling. And his machinations would continue, as he gathered all kinds of information on powers that could be brought under his control.

Kel'thuzad watched as the SCVs set up base, and began to mine minerals. A few got to work constructing some bunkers and missile turrets, to ward off the zerg. He studied the mineral line closely, looking for hints of knowledge that could benefit the scourge. "My king, it would be wise to prepare for an assault."

"Yes..." Arthas intoned. "Survey the area."

"At once." Kel'thuzad swept off, ice around him.

Malfurion was left looking at Arthas with a displeased face. "You really presume to just take command here?"

"If you think to give Kel'thuzad an order, you may try, old fool." Arthas didn't even look back at Malfurion.

"Silence." Sonya called, before the argument could begin. "I refuse to allow you to start bickering when we are about to be attacked."

"..." Illidan just grumbled. "...Shouldn't have accepted this mission."

Malfurion, on the other hand, eased back a little. "Lady Sonya. You'll have to understand that I find it unwise to place trust in that one. He carries darkness, more than anyone should be able to."

"I care not. We are on the same team." Sonya said plainly. "Even if he was as foul as Diablo, then infighting will only make us weaker against the common foe. There will be time to kill him later- or be killed."

"...I can see the wisdom." Malfurion said half-heartedly.

"Pathetic." Illidan added, but he didn't follow it up.

The reason he didn't follow it up is because Kel'thuzad came whooshing back to them at top speed, in an outright panic. "Arthas! A lone enemy has appeared!"

Arthas turned his head in what might have been confusion. "...A lone enemy? Do they intend to bargain?"

The rest of the group went through varying levels of being unnerved. Surely no single being would think attacking a fortified position was a good idea?

"Perhaps it's a trick?" Suggested Malfurion. "...But no... The land calls out to me, in warning. Something truly monstrous approaches."

Sonya looked around. The defences were still under construction, and the SCVs wouldn't be offered any real protection if something managed to get past the defence line. "You there! Marine!" She shouted.

"Aye ma'am!"

"We will go out and face the enemy! Get the buildings up quickly!" She yelled, loud enough to dent metal.

"Got it!"

"Hurry!" Sonya looked around the group, before pointing at the lich. "Where is the foe?"

Kel'thuzad floated back the way he'd come, hands clasped together, with the rest of the group following. He had seen a single enemy, and felt a completely unfamiliar power from them. Similar to magic, but something about it was deeply different. And it was there in such a great concentration that he knew it could easily have blasted him to dust if he didn't approach this tactfully.

Plans filed through his head as they got closer. Throw the barbaric woman at it, and use the time to set up a magical entrapment? Perhaps use his personal shade as a decoy to drop their guard? Or focus on protecting Arthas... It was impossible to make a good plan against the unknown.

They came to a stop as a humanoid figure came into view. It was the one, alright. A pair of skeletal wings behind them, and that aura...

Arthas put a hand onto his sword. "I sense a powerful presence."

"So long as they draw no closer, we don't have to attack." Sonya said. "We simply must buy time for our defences. Living to fight again is half the battle."

"And knowing is the other half." Kel'thuzad quipped. "We have no clue what we are against. Be wary, my king."

There was a brief standoff, before the figure in the distance started walking closer.

"Halt!" Sonya shouted. They kept approaching. "HALT!" No response. She looked back to Kel'thuzad, and drew her two swords, handling the giant slabs of steel like they weighed as much as a pair of drumsticks.

"Let them come." Arthas said passively. "Wait until the last moment..."

Sonya grit her teeth, and glared at Arthas. "I hope you know what you are asking."

Illidan slipped the Warglaives of Azzinoth over his hands, and got into an attack stance. He bounced from foot to foot, untethered from any restrictions. He could feel the power approaching was... overwhelming. There was an immense deal of magic that he didn't quite recognise, and it was fused with some kind of being that radiated strength.

Kerrigan stopped, just within talking distance. "Well now. I see you're making my job easy today."

"..." Arthas neglected to reply, slowly drawing his sword. They were trying to drop his guard, surely.

"Ha. Tough crowd. Well, I suppose I'll just have to liven things up then." Kerrigan stepped forwards one more time, a purple glow spreading throughout her veins, crackling with power. She levitated into the air, wings spreading out and arcs of psionic lighting leaping between them in place of any kind of membrane. "Taste my wrath!" The gemstone around her neck glimmered and illuminated, dazzlingly bright.

Kerrigan shot forwards like a bullet, for Arthas. In a flash of diamond dust he parried with Frostmourne, his own personal storm of ice forming around him. His skill was impeccable, and he swung his blade for the attacking queen once, twice, thrice- but every time it was almost effortlessly stopped by a barrier of force around Kerrigan, as she rained down a psionic blasting, the power searing his ice away.

Sonya leapt in, undeterred, and brought her two swords crashing down. Kerrigan flung an arm out to the side, and with a mighty wave of force Sonya was thrown away, landing on her feet and charging again. A wave of spikes materialised from the floor, and should have impaled her completely- but on contact with her skin they snapped like twigs, merely grazing the barbarian. She went in for another round, and slammed Kerrigan once more before Kerrigan grabbed her by the thoat and lifted her like a ragdoll, before throwing her at Malfurion.

Malfurion was completely bowled over by Sonya, but managed to get to his feet to see his team getting walked over by this lone enemy. No... worse than that. She was toying with them- He could see she was pulling her attacks at the last second, avoiding killing blows against her targets. Arthas himself was little more than a punching bag. He willed Sonya's injuries to regrow, and cast Moonfire to provide what support he could. Before he could even blink, Kerrigan had teleported in front of him.

The singularity flashed even brighter for a moment, and her purple power took on a deep blue tint.

" **Watch**!" Kerrigan shouted.

It was a blur of motion, and her speed seemed to fly beyond any mortal limit Malfurion knew of. He had no chance to defend himself as she pummeled and stabbed him more times than he could count. Strangely, it didn't hurt much.

If only because he died before the pain message could even reach him.

"Brother!" Illidan swept in, and Kerrigan jumped into a kick, directly to his weapon. On contact, there was a blast of energy that seemed to shock the demon hunter, and he staggered back, almost dropping his weapon. Kerrigan lowered her centre of mass and lunged at him, aiming to knock his head off with sheer force. He blocked at the last second, and was cratered into the floor. That would have been lethal to most things, but Illidan was already getting up... Before Kerrigan kicked him again, sending him flying.

Kerrigan switched her target again, too fast to follow. This time she went for Kel'thuzad, as the lich prepared spells. She flew overhead, flinging blasts of energy that knocked him to and fro, before a set of chains shot from the rising dust cloud, wrapping around her. They coiled back to a spike of ice on the floor, dragging Kerrigan down, before ice exploded everywhere. And she was barely even slowed, ripping herself free and breaking the chains. Kerrigan leapt forwards, surging with psionic power, and raised her hands before unleashing a torrent of blue sparks at Kel'thuzad. They swept him away, sending him to the floor, but didn't seem to do any damage.

Kel'thuzad looked up, grinning as best he could. "Ha! Your 'magic' is about as strong as a mosquito's!"

"I've already killed you." Kerrigan stopped for a split second, shoving Arthas away with telekinesis.

"Wha-"

A wave of sparks seemed to shine on every point of Kel'thuzad's entire body before each one exploded, blasting dust and fragments of bone and cloth everywhere, an urn dropping to the floor, thrown by the blast. It's a good thing Kel'thuzad was entirely bone, or I'd probably have had to change the rating to an M.

Kerrigan turned, to see Arthas, Sonya and... wow, Illidan not only managed to get up, he'd metamorphosed, a pair of wings behind him. Sonya charged at her once again, throwing out some kind of barbed spear. Kerrigan caught it with one hand as Sonya tried to yank her in, and thrust a wing forwards. It struck into her chestplate, and the metal exploded into shards. Yet Sonya remained alive, merely stunned. Kerrigan brought both wings around in a spiked beat, crushing Sonya down, and then pressed her into the floor with her mind. Arthas was approaching, and Illidan seemed to be looking for an opening too.

"I've had enough of you..." She looked at Arthas, the king concealing the damage she'd dealt him well, still prepared to attack her. Kerrigan leapt backwards, out of range. And cupped her hands together by her side. Energy gathered, and she called on her singulaity to boost the attack. Her mind had gathered the strength it needed in just a second, and she thrust her palms forwards.

A huge beam of energy roared forwards, directly towards Arthas. Sonya barely managed to roll out of the way, as it clipped one of her swords and simply disintegrated the end, forcing her to drop the now molten handle. The smaller pebbles below the attack were torn from the floor, and the rocks heated.

Illidan watched as Arthas didn't even try to dodge, standing there. The laser engulfed him entirely, surely enough to rend him down to his base particles.

It stopped, and Arthas was still standing, an aura of anti-magic runes around him for just a brief extra second. He was fully healed.

Kerrigan stood up, and frowned. "How the-"

A flash of blue went past her, and she stumbled. Arthas watched as Kerrigan was suddenly set upon by a new force of attackers. They must have taken advantage of the laser to move in undetected...

Artanis pummeled her with his blades, while Fenix shot at her with lasers, rapidly forcing her to lose ground. Kerrigan went on a counteroffensive, and was about to turn her full wrath on Artanis when Arthas moved forward and struck, Frostmourne finally finding its' mark. If not for the psionic barrier protecting Kerrigan, a strike that true would have gone through her entirely, yet as it was she stumbled back, weakened.

With the flash of a psi-blade, Artanis hit her arm, and it fell to the ground. Kerrigan shouted in anger, and they were all knocked away yet again... but she stepped back, covering the lost limb.

"Dammit... Should have known you'd turn up at the worst time, Artanis." Kerrigan spat, the arm already starting to regrow. "Fine. I'll leave for now." She vanished in the blink of an eye, to a place unknown.

Illidan collapsed, barely conscious. Sonya stayed on her knees, breathing heavily. Arthas calmly sheathed Frostmourne, and walked over to Kel'thuzad's phylactery, before picking it up.

Artanis looked at the spot Kerrigan had been in furiously, before deactivating his blades. "Apologies for the delay in my intervention, allies of Raynor. We weren't sure how to warp in without Kerrigan destroying us first."

Fenix marched forth. "Your fight was glorious, regardless of your losses. Let us return to your base, and prepare for the next battle!"

* * *

Brightwing felt... something. A sharp tug on her heart. A feeling of...loss? "Friend?"

"Yes?" Dehaka didn't look at her, as he watched his attack force carefully skirt around the enemy mining operation, looking for a hole to exploit.

"Feel bad." The feeling... it was like the sense she had for when her friends were in danger. It felt so, so close to the feeling of someone she cared about being hurt, but it was just for a split second... Could it be..? "I think a friend has died." She whispered.

"..." Dehaka needed a second to process that. She didn't seem to have her life tied to the continued survival of any other entity, like a spawning pool or some other structure relied on creep. Why would that matter..? Unless it was like the way she treated him. Was there something keeping her alive whenever she was resting? "Are you, hurt?" _Don't die. Don't die. Your healing is useful, and I have yet to understand the magic you show me._

"Brightwing does not know who is hurt." She said. "Scared. Sad. Who could be?"

"But, you are not, dying?"

"...Feel sad. Big sad." Brightwing slumped onto the floor. "...Friends..."

 _She's not answering! Is this an injury or not?!_ "What, can I do, to restore you?"

"..." Brightwing took a deep breath. "Will get better soon. Brightwing... cares about friends. Do not like when they die. Wish I could have protected..."

Dehaka stopped his reply. He'd been about to end the conversation, knowing his healer was alright, but... then she'd gone on to say more. _She calls me friend. She would really try hard to protect me, too... Maybe I should offer her some protection in turn. She's... more valuable than I thought. But it could be a trap. A trick. Right..? But... I'll offer a small chance. The smallest, safest chance. And see how she reacts._ "I, offer protection." Dehaka said. "Will help, if you, continue, to give me this, friendship."

"Ah... I am thanking you." Brightwing sighed. "...Can Brightwing stay close? Want to feel safe... and want to see other friends too. See if safe. Stuck-off, Lucio... and friends back home. Lunara. Shan'do. Orphea. Box monster. Oh, Shan'do was here... but Shan'do probably fine. Very strong."

"...Can, visit Stukov later. Unlikely, he has, died." Dehaka reasoned.

Brightwing shuffled closer, and lay down next to him. "...Thank you, for being good friend."

 _...I'm a 'good' friend? I don't know what I'm doing, or even quite what this 'friendship' is. But... at the very least, she's making no move to attack. If this is a trick, she's yet to make her move._

* * *

Kerrigan's overlord warped back to the Aleksander, and she dropped out of it irritably. Her arm was already fine, although healing through that wound had required she use a reasonable amount of her bodyweight. 'Stukov. Did you obtain any useful data from that?'

'...I am studying it now. If you come to my quarters, then I will tell you what I can deduce." Stukov's thoughts came to her easily.

She walked through the ship, feeling her depleted stamina quickly returning. A small part of her regretted leaving so easily, but she reluctantly admitted that she couldn't have subdued Artanis. He'd have fought to the death no matter what, and killing someone that would eventually become an ally wasn't a good idea.

Her thoughts returned to home. It had been too long... She was closer to getting back into the fight than ever, but she fearfully hoped it wasn't too late. The Nexus had had a grasp on her for years, ever since her Leviathan found itself in unknown space. If she couldn't return to the point she was taken from... well, she had doubts there would be a sector left, after three or four years. Maybe Amon had destroyed the entire universe and that was why she couldn't get back?

...Hopefully not.

Kerrigan came up to the doors of Stukov's bridge. In her personal opinion, a bit extravagant, with the steel skulls. But at the very least, they were somewhat protective, unlike the useless pieces of tinfoil she'd seen on some ships. She pushed them open with ease, seeing Stukov sitting there.

"Ah, Kerrigan. Take a seat." Stukov offered.

She didn't object, dropping into a nearby chair. Her wings nearly hit the floor, but automatically pulled themselves up a little, the spikes avoiding scratching the ruined metal panels. "What have you concluded?"

"Your singularity provides an incredible combat boost." Stukov started. "I cannot calculate the exact values, but your normal movements were nearly 25% faster, with no noticeable loss in precision. I saw you were holding back to avoid ending things instantly, but it is clear that your capability to strike physically and mentally was increased as well."

"I already knew that, but the confirmation is good."

"In more important matters, the attacks that you used your gem for." Stukov continued. "Each one caused a dip in your energy output. I warn you, overuse of you powerful strikes may deplete your energy."

"Hm. I didn't notice the drop..."

"Indeed. It appears the gem has some form of energy capacitance, to mitigate the lapse in it's energy. That does suggest it could be charged if you can control it, and doing so may open new possibilities."

"A new lead. Excellent. Is there more to hear?" Kerrigan asked. "Actually, I have a theory of my own. I've noticed Mira can open portals with ease... yet it drains me quickly. But I don't sense any special power from her. Maybe the singularities specialise in certain abilities? What would you say about that?"

Stukov seemed to lighten a little, interested. "We should not jump to conclusions. But I have an observation that supports that theory. The beam attack you used did not cause a power drop. If you have time, further testing would be good, yes?"

"Hmm... You're telling me that the ability I specialise in is death rays?" Kerrigan considered the ray she'd used. "That edgy twat in platemail healed when I hit him with it. But otherwise... that's not too useful, but at least has a certain intimidation factor."

"Some kind of Anti-Magic Shell was used to protect him. I could see it as he summoned it, and intentionally let the beam hit him." Stukov explained. "I doubt many things will survive a direct hit from such an attack."

"I'll help you test your theory as soon as I'm fully recovered." Kerrigan said. "We can get it done before Dehaka is back, and then you can debrief him while I return to exploring this singularity."

"As you wish."

* * *

Mira couldn't stop worrying, right up to the moment she heard her communicator beeping. She picked it up as a sense of dread blossomed in her chest, and heard Matthew's voice.

"Kerrigan attacked one of the two groups herself."

She clutched the device, as her suspicions were realised.

"How bad is it?" Mira asked.

"...Open a portal for the first team. We're down two heroes, but they managed to keep the miners protected."

"There's going to be fallout." Mira said. "People are going to lose more faith in me."

"It's true... but you didn't screw up like the first time. I'll help you keep things under control. You just get these guys back, in case Kerrigan strikes again."

Mira nodded, the shock slipping away to give rise to anger. "Fucking Kerrigan! Why the hell would she choose to go out now?! Why didn't I impose stricter safeguards?! Gahh!" She squeezed the communicator, as if to crush it in her hand. She collected herself. "Thanks sweetie. I'll get them back now." She ended the call, and restrained herself from smashing the device on the floor, before starting to open a portal.

 **Author's notes: I hope you'll believe me when I say that I didn't sacrifice Malfurion to further Brightwing and Dehaka's friendship. I wing these chapters, and just have the barest bones planned out in advance. I wasn't even sure who I was going to kill off in the fight against Kerrigan, just that someone would die. Or two someones, in this case! Although Kel's phylactery is intact.**

 **There will be fallout from this, as always. Actions don't take place in a vacuum, and even if Illidan and Malf aren't the closest... well, that's for next time. See you then!**

 **Reviewer answers!**

 **Spazmanazz: Character interaction was one of the main things I wanted to do, going into this. If only because it's the one thing I feel like Blizzard _truly_ failed to do in the game and comics. I do hope I didn't overdescribe this chapter's fight, it was written just as I read the review, and I was considering trimming it a little. And confession time- I don't proofread my chapters. Never developed the habit, I'm always excited to upload them. The exception being this one, because I now feel very irresponsible having admitted that.**


	22. Chapter 22: Power of Words

Illidan stumbled through the portal, followed by Sonya, Arthas, the recalled operation, and finally Artanis and Fenix. He sat down away from the unused vehicles and empty crates, leaving Mira to wonder exactly what had happened to cause him to grow wings and horns.

But right now, experience directed Mira's actions. "Sonya! What happened."

Sonya was missing one of her swords, and one of the two metal plates on her upper armour was missing, leaving only the cloth underneath. Her skin had angry red marks in many places, and even a few cuts. It may have had iron-like properties, but iron has limits too. "It was a single enemy." She said, uncertainly. "They were more powerful than Diablo himself. They looked like some kind of woman, horribly corrupted. My attacks did nothing."

"Kerrigan." Confirmed Mira. She'd already known, but she wasn't above confirming things. "I didn't expect her to step into the field. She is the leader of the swarm."

"She had some kind of necklace." Sonya continued. "I am no mage, but I know it was increasing her power. It was like your breastplate."

Mira looked at her own jacket, something simple and bulletproof save for the blue gem that had set itself into the front. "She has a singularity?"

"If that is what the crystal you have is called." Sonya affirmed.

"Sweet mother of god, that is... _mildly_ concerning!" Mira clapped her hands together. "And does also explain how she was able to do that to you. You'd better go off to the medbay, and take the others with you. I'll come over later."

"...I cannot protest." Sonya slumped a bit. "That was a fierce battle." She made to go and haul Illidan off the floor, while Arthas stood silently, in perfect condition.

With a whip-like quickness, Illidan's hand blocked Sonya from picking him up. "No..." He murmured.

"Fine, carry yourself." She shrugged and left, as Illidan got to his feet slowly.

Mira looked with some surprise as the pulverised demon hunter walked over to her, green fire burning under his blindfold. He managed to stand in front of her, and straightened. "Bring back Malfurion. I know you have the power to." Illidan's words didn't carry emotion, only command.

"I can't. I can only revive people if they're near me." Mira countered.

"Then get out there. And bring him back." Illidan said slowly.

"No can do. If I go down, we're all dead."

"You're really so afraid that Kerrigan will come again? Cast aside your stupid doubts and do something useful for once, you half-baked excuse for a mercenary!" Illidan snarled.

Mira felt the words crashing against her, but managed to keep a solid mask. "Oh, something useful? Like perhaps, opening portals that enable us to fight back?"

"Why should I care about this fight?! I was dragged here because of your lack of planning!" Illidan shouted.

"The zerg won't stop with us! They'll go on to devour everything if we don't beat them here!" Mira yelled.

"You could send us home! You keep us here against our will! Perhaps some of these idiots think they have a moral obligation to defeat every last threat that ever arises, but I am not one of them! You will save Malfurion, or I will incite rebellion!" Illidan made his body glow with fel energy, in hope of intimidation.

Mira suddenly seemed to bite her tongue. "Don't you dare." She whispered.

"My terms are simple." Illidan spat.

 _If he does that, then we'll be fractured, and easy pickings for Kerrigan. He'd effictively kill us all. I..._ "Johnson." Mira started, sweating. This choice, she didn't want to make it! She didn't want to make it without even getting to think about it! And Arthas was here, he could... no, there were only two choices right now. Stun and quarantine, or kill. He was weakened enough for either. "Blue bullet."

Illidan reflexively prepared to dodge as he heard a shotgun being pumped. He moved like a mirage as a blast from a guard on the side went past him, not even touching his chest... and was tasered by Mira. "Gah!" He dropped like a stone.

"100,000 volts. I use that thing to stun bounties way bigger than you." Mira said shortly, clipping a small device back onto her belt. "Get me some handcuffs, and prep a cell."

* * *

The bar was livelier than normal that night. Sonya was talking up a storm about Arthas' actions, so much so that Malfurion and Kel'thuzad's untimely demises were almost brushed over.

"He stood in the way of the blast, without any fear." Sonya continued on her tale, holding a solid steel mug that matched her outfit strangely well, despite coming from a civilisation that lived in the stars. "And continued the fight to the bitter end! A true warrior, that I cannot deny."

"..." Thrall just kept a hand on his hammer. Arthas, recieving praise. Life could be strange indeed... He had a strong urge to warn those listening of Arthas' many conquests, but held himself. Sonya had the attention of the room, and he'd just look like an ass if he tried to step up here.

Jaina looked at Sonya worriedly, and it was plain to see that she was on the verge of speaking up too. Thrall shifted closed her eyes and shook her head. "Now's not the time. I know that." She started. "But I truly fear that she's placed trust in Arthas. That could get her killed."

"We will tell her later." Thrall said. "...Assuming we live that long."

"Hm? It's not like you to be pessimistic, Thrall."

"Ah." Thrall sat down awkwardly. "I suppose Rehgar's death put something of a damper on me. If only for how quickly it happened."

"I wasn't there. What happened?"

"A blast from one of the Archangel machines. He seemed stuck in place, but nobody could have hoped to reach him. He was too far forward."

"...I'm sorry for your loss." Jaind said sincerely. "It's the devastation conflicts like this bring that drives me to fight. I suppose I'll have to add Rehgar to the list of people I need to bring this to a close for."

"More have died?"

Jaina raised an eyebrow. "You haven't heard about Tyreal?"

"I have." Thrall confirmed. "I saw his friend was devastated. Although he's pulled through it, I think." He gestured over to one of the watching tables, where Lucio had turned off a speaker on the table to let Sonya tell her story.

"...About Alterac. I'm willing to set aside our greivances for now, and co-operate with you fully until this is over, Thrall." Jaina said seriously. "The zerg can't be allowed to get away with this."

"I appreciate the offer. Should I have need of you, then I will call on you." Thrall said, as he watched Zarya and Cassia get into a heated discussion about something.

* * *

Zarya looked at the scrap of paper in her hand. Assembling a team for point guarding wasn't her specialisation, but she did believe she had a good grasp of how to organise some troops.

The first thing she'd done was look for anyone with military backgrounds. Working with fellow professionals was infinitely preferable to having four gung-ho wild cards to babysit. Then, by order of preference they had to know how to look out for the zerg, have technology Zayra knew how to plan around, and have a good sense of tactics.

Hammer and Morales? Absolutely perfect. And getting them to accompany her had been as easy as asking. The next one she'd landed on as a good candidate was that recent arrival, Artanis. She'd been extremely conflicted on who to choose before, but with his arrival she saw a straightforward melee wall. Just like the mechs she was so used to working with. Although learning how to work with something so alien was on her mind. And Cassia neatly completed the line-up, with solid military training, tactics, simple equipment (Exploding lightning javelin that reforms in your hand? Basically a muilti-use grenade, right?) and a rather impressive throwing arm.

Perfect. Now to get it approved. Which is why Zarya walked in on one stressed Matt Horner talking to one extremely stressed Mira Han.

"I'm not sure how to handle this. If it were just between my mercs, then I could easily just kick him out, but right now that's _exactly what he wants._ And killing-" Mira spun, hearing the door open. "Excuse me, you need to knock!"

"I am here to get my team approved." Zarya held up her scrap of paper. She couldn't deny she was curious as to what had Mira so worried, but she wouldn't have pried if it were her own boss that she trusted, let alone this woman.

"Oh, I'll check it now. You've checked with everyone you plan on taking with you?" Matt took the paper, eyes flicking over the short list. "I can't see any glaring deficiencies. You plan to act as a leader, right?"

"Yes. I am trained for this kind of duty." Zarya kept herself in a confident posture. Presentation was everything when making a first impression.

"...Alright. I'll grant you this. Please listen to the input from your teammates, their experience can't be overstated." Matthew folded the paper neatly and tucked it into his pocket. "I'll call them up tomorrow. Have a good night, ma'am."

"Thank you. I will show you the strength of Russia's best." Zarya said, managing to keep her english flowing.

The moment she left the room, Matthew sat down. "...Not to belittle your problem with Illidan, but I don't know what to do about my problem either, Mira."

"I'm listening. We can just be bitter together, at worst." Mira looked out of one of the windows sullenly.

"Kerrigan. She could go out again tomorrow. And by all accounts she's even stronger than she's ever been before. What kind of team would it take to beat her? We could send a large number of heroes, but that runs a huge risk of logistical problems."

"Just throw Raynor at her." Mira said offhandedly. "Works most of the time."

"He's my oldest friend, Mira. I don't want to treat him badly."

"Pfft, isn't that what wives do? Ostracise people from their friends? Cause a ton of stress? Complain?" Mira leaned against the window, looking down at the construction site.

"Are you fishing for compliments?" Matthew went to his adjutant, pulling up a list of heroes and starting to see who could work well with Raynor.

"I'm a resilient woman Matthew, but ouch. You really see me that way?"

"No. But I do wonder exactly why you do this. Saying we're married, treating me more as someone you're close to than an enemy."

"Hey. We ARE married." Mira looked back. "Just not on the official records. So don't make me drag a priest up here and have him officiate it. And we're married because we are extremely good at dealing with each other."

"..." Matthew just sighed. "...I hear good things about the team we sent into the Leviathan. They're supposed to work well with Raynor. Although he gets along very well with Uther and his people too... who would you think we should send?"

"Fenix, of course." Mira answered. "They've not seen each other in a while. And I bet that protoss is itching for a revenge-kill on Kerrigan."

"You heard about all that?"

"Comes with the trade, Matt."

* * *

Dehaka watched the zergling turn into a... what was the name? Sheep? It ran around wildly in the pathetic form for a few seconds, before the spell ended and it turned back to normal in the blink of an eye.

"Now you try, friend!"

Magic. Dehaka just couldn't understand it, no matter how hard he tried. It wasn't the same as psionics. It was some kind of force he had no real idea how to use, and it didn't come to him naturally.

But struggle was essential to growing the mind, just as essence was necessary to grow the body. This was a good way to spend time.

"...No, feeling." Dehaka regarded the pitiable zergling that had been dragged to his quarters for Brightwing to use as a test dummy. It was completely beaten down, exhausted and at the mercy of either magic or muscle. The entrance to the room was sealed too, leaving no escape. Its' survival ended here, one way or the other.

Yet even as weak as it was, it had enough strength to resist any magic Dehaka could muster up.

"Aww, you are trying!" Brightwing flew around. "...But not managing to do magic. Friend drawing on good magicky thing? Thinking about sparkles? Feeling magicky?"

"Yes... but, I cannot feel any, respose."

"Try again!"

She had tenacity, at least. That was a good quality. But Dehaka's efforts at casting Polymorph remained fruitless, on and on through the night.

Eventually, her own stamina- no, mana- ran dry. Brightwing landed on Dehaka's back, as she sometimes did. Dehaka wasn't worried about that. Managing to pierce his back would be difficult indeed, and he could reach around and grab her if need be. "Tired... tired, and hungry. Can Brightwing eat zergling?"

Dehaka relented in his efforts. Maybe he'd felt the absolute barest tinglings of something unfamiliar over the last few hours, but that could easily just have been from his proximity to the one trying to teach him. Either way, they needed to make ready for the next day. He was always ready for a fight, but if they were called up unexpectedly, she was now exhausted. A reckless move.

He struck out and killed the zergling in one blow. "Eat." He offered.

"Oooh, thank you! Thanks!"

Dehaka was left contemplating the results of the session. Maybe he was lacking something, if he was this inept at magic? Could it be that she had missed something in her explanations? Or maybe it was a trait that had to be assimilated, one unique to her world? The answers remained elusive. And without the ability to collect new traits, Dehaka wasn't sure how to find them.

The power to change... "I, have a question." Dehaka said, watching Brightwing tear into the zergling.

"Yes, friend?"

"Do you, remember, what I said, about the, nexus? How I, cannot change?"

"Yes... Sound like you are not happy. Can Brightwing help?"

"Do you, have, any idea, how to break, this... stagnation?"

"..." Brightwing looked around. "...No. Already tried cleansing you, friend."

Dehaka just sat back in the corner, having known that answer was coming. "It may, be why I cannot, use your, magic."

"Hm... Will keep trying, though!"

An answer he liked. Maybe he couldn't place trust in her, and he still wondered what exactly drove her... but she at least seemed serious about trying to help.

* * *

The night passed, and morning came once again. Illidan knew it was morning even from the cell he was bound in. Honestly, it was a rather nice cell compared to most of them. He had a lot of experience at this kind of thing. Being locked up. Being hated by authorities. Having decent intentions and... questionable... methods.

Either way, he assessed his options for escape. He could break these handcuffs easily enough. The fel gave him enough strength to tear through metal all the time. The guards could easily be overpowered. He could kill them with so little as a flick of his finger. But then the two problems would arise. He didn't have his weapons. Without them, he doubted he could face the other heroes down. And even then, coercing Mira into opening a portal could well be impossible. Even if he had no wish to be part of this fight, killing everyone and leaving would leave the zerg unchecked...

So for now, he sat and wondered what to do. And also boiled with rage at getting taken down by something as petty as 100, 000 volts.

His eyes saw through the walls, watching as the guards outside drank. Sloppy. The wardens would have slapped the faces off these fools for daring to so much as sneeze on duty, let alone get drunk.

And yet, he could sense something more... something was afflicting those men beyond simple alcohol. It snaked through their minds, dulled them and twisted them, so subtly... what was afoot?

And above, the daily missions were sent out. He could see that bizarre, otherworldly magic opening portals, and the souls of men driving machines going through them. The fact someone would choose now to stupefy the guards, when Mira was undoubtedly busy indicated that this was something planned. And they had to be here for him. Who else was in the brig?

He decided to get his cuffs into a position where he could rip them off, and stood up. Better to be ready for anything.

And there it was. A presence approaching that he could recognise. It walked through the corridors, freezing to the core. Arthas.

The door swung open.

"...What is the meaning of this?" Illidan said cautiously.

"I have come with a proposal..."

* * *

Raynor sat around at the daily mining operation. No signs of Kerrigan yet, to his relief. And Fenix's frustration.

"Guard duties are important, but I crave a fight." The golden metal of the dragoon held still, as it scanned the horizon for threats. Nothing more than a gathering force of zerg that seemed oddly hesitant to engage.

"Hey, why not enjoy the moment? I'm sure you'll get a chance to stick it to the zerg before things are done here." Raynor leaned back on the rocks.

"You oughtn't be so casual, boy." Uther said sternly. He looked into the distance with the same intensity as Fenix. With his own golden armour, and blue raiment, he seemed to mesh fairly well with the dragoon's aesthetic.

"Fair enough. Wouldn't be good if I got you lot in trouble." Raynor got up, keeping his gun in hand. "You guys feeling okay? Anything you want done?"

"I'm quite alright." Uther said.

"All I need is a fight, and all shall be right in the world." Fenix responded. "The foul zerg will not have time to know what I unleash on them."

"Good on you." Raynor stood, looking into the distance. "Hey, I think we'll probably start seeing some zerg meant to test the waters in a couple of minutes. Want to head down to the front and give them a warm welcome?"

"...I see no movement, but I agree. They won't bide their time forever. Let us go, Raynor! We shall meet them with plasma and flame!" Fenix cheered.

"Now, don't leave me out. No enemy of the light shall disrespect us and live." Uther picked up his hammer, and marched along with them.

True to prediction, a few zerglings were thrown at them. A paltry force intended to do nothing more than get the lay of the land and send it back to whoever was controlling them. Raynor was nothing but supportive of Fenix as the dragoon personally obliterated every last one that came into his range.

"Careful now, better not go too far out!" Raynor warned, as Fenix stepped out into the open plains. This world was covered in a chalky white moss, and the occasional rock formation added a bit of verticality. Pretty, but also ideal for concealing ambushes. Aside from the normal ones, where the zerg burrowed into the floor.

Fenix reluctantly moved back into the safety of the team. "As ever, you provide sound advice. Although I have much more left to express."

"Don't worry, you're doing great. And besides, wouldn't want to give you your fill of battle before the zerg get through the openers!" Raynor clicked a new clip into his gun, and started walking back. "Still okay, Uther?"

"Well, I may be redundant here. Although for a healer, that's nothing to complain about." Uther said, impressed. "I do hope King Varian is not too upset that we fought that wave off without him."

"Fear not, Uther!" Fenix intoned. "There shall be plenty to fight through in time."

They returned back to the base, SCVs piling minerals up in crates, ready for transportation back to Deadman's Port. Varian was swinging his sword around in practice, his moves infused with strength and skill. Uther felt pride well up inside him, seeing how his king's training with the sword had paid off. The man was inspiring just to look at.

Although, a sense of regret hit him at the same time. Varian was only his king in the nexus. He knew all that had transpired throughout his life, and after Arthas' fall... a small part of him wished he'd been Varian's man from the start, that he might have been able to better protect the world. And a much, much larger part reminded him that the king and land he had served could easily have been saved if he'd been a slightly better retainer, stopping the chain of tragedies that started in Stratholme.

"King Varian, I think the real fighting will begin soon." Uther said. "Are you ready?"

"Of course!" Varian twirled the two halves of his blade, before merging them together and lowering it to his side, prepared for use. "Jaina, what would be your forecast for the battle?"

"It looks straightforward." Jaina mused. "Without many safe ways to approach our position, one would be forgiven for assuming a frontal assault is the only option. But we have to pay attention to this side route. It would be easy to send in an aerial force, and since the land there is so poorly suited to ground troops they could circumvent the towers that we've constructed."

"Alright... So we should set up an extra tower over there?" Raynor pointed at one of the far points in the mining encampment.

"No, I simply want to say that fliers could pick and choose their battles here. So we can't afford to expose weak points, or they'll be exploited." Jaina explained.

"...I see." Raynor nodded. "Then-" There was a ringing sound inside his suit. Raynor seemed to light up, as he scrambled and hit a button. "Tychus?! I haven't heard from your line in weeks, man! What kind of trouble did you get into?!"

Jaina could faintly hear the voice that came through. "Jimmy, found ya at last. Of course you had to find a way to hole yourself up on a planet surrounded by zerg. Listen up, I'm planetside. The zerg base ain't looking so tough, if ya press forward we can-" There was a cough. "Wipe 'em out."

"Sounds great!" Raynor said, looking around the group. "Nova with you?"

"Who d'you think did the math on this plan? Sure as hell wasn't my dropout ass." The man on the other end sounded... a little out of breath?

"Heh. Well, then we'll do what we can to push them back. And, uh..." Raynor shifted a bit. "You okay, Tychus? Sound a bit rough?"

"Oh, uh..." There was a pause, and for a moment Jaina almost felt like the person on the other end of the receiver was panicking. "Deep-throated a cigar." He said awkwardly. "Burned my mouth a bit."

"Classic. Don't sweat it, buddy. I'll get you patched up if we get through this. And I don't see anyone killing the glorious bastard we call Tychus anytime soon. Raynor out!" Raynor clicked off the channel. "Well, looks like we've got an opportunity! You guys all okay with going on the offensive?"

"A chance to repay the zerg for Auir, in even the smallest way? I am more than okay." Fenix confirmed with a loud confidence.

* * *

Stukov looked at the infested he'd commandeered. Kerrigan was wrapped up in testing new theories about the singularity, and with a bit of careful timing and psychology, convincing her to give up Tychus for this little plan hadn't been difficult.

And with a bit of repair to the man's voice box, Raynor had taken the bait hook, line and sinker. Now it was just a matter of concealing how large an army he had here. With such a total advantage, engineering the survival of Raynor and Fenix ought to be possible.

'Squadron one, march on the enemy. Do not relent.' Stukov sent the command. 'Squadron two, move to position and burrow. Be careful not to disturb the flooring too much, surprise is key. Squadron three, hold position.'

Hundreds of feeble consciousnesses echoed in affirmation. Tychus stood there dully, infestation sapping at his personality. "Orders... boss?" He coughed.

Stukov considered things. On one hand, Tychus didn't really serve any further purpose in his plans here. And Kerrigan would be furious if he got her butler/slave killed. But having an extra hand was never a bad thing. And Tychus was carrying a rather impressive minigun. That would be excellent for mowing down any more tricks that those otherworldly people pulled out.

"Stay with me. You will function as my guard while I remove Raynor from the battle." Stukov instructed. He got up from his chair, and walked for the doors of his command centre. Manufacturing a new one had been trivial, although it wasn't quite the same as the one Tyreal had atomised. It was cleaner, slightly.

He walked out onto the field, seeing his forces shamble forwards. Supplemented with zerglings and the occasional mutalisk or hydralisk, but the purpose of this force was to die. It was less than a third of what he had here, and an acceptable loss if he could secure even one enemy to infest. His entire force here was an acceptable loss in exchange for reducing the enemy's power whatsoever. He could obtain more infested with ease. The nexus might even return some of them.

The first wave approached. Stukov watched, detached from his forces as they were gunned down like sitting ducks. That dragoon Fenix seemed a little too eager for this, constantly at the forefront of battle with the swordfighter. Certainly valorous, but yet to discover discretion.

Either way, it was clear Raynor was taking the bait...

They got closer. Stukov paid careful attention to his two concealed forces, ensuring they didn't break cover. Letting the enemy walk themselves too far forward was the most important part of this tactic. If this were a real battle, without constraint, he'd take advantage of the forces he now had behind the enemy' elite unit to unleash hell on their base, but encircling and destroying the elite ones was acceptable too...

His lessons learned were clear in his mind as they got even closer. The mage would summon some kind of water creature to defend her. The warrior would block and parry nearly anything, and try to provide protection. The old man was a healer, and thus the priority target.

"They're getting... close... boss." Tychus awkwardly shifted his minigun. "...That... one feels familiar." He wheezed, looking at Raynor.

"Quiet." Stukov crouched, and instructed his soldiers to stand in front of him. Things were falling into place. The enemy reached his lines. 'Sqaudrons two and three, break cover and circle the enemy!' Stukov drew his hand back, and pushed aside the two units in front of him.

Fenix was almost on top of him.

"GET OUT!" Stukov yelled, hoping for just a split second of shock in his foe. He held out his infested arm, mentally triggering a reaction. Liquid inside expanded into gas violently, while the skin stretched and was quickly duplicated to maintain an extending chamber, while extra biomatter to fuel the continuous reaction was fed through Stukov's boots. Excruciatingly painful, but as a result the arm extended out like a rocket, slamming straight into Fenix and lifting him off the floor for a good hundred meters, before gravty pulled him into the floor and dragged him along for another five hundred. Stukov felt his hand hit something with a crash, and then ninety-eight percent of his arm fell off, regrowing quickly.

A few bullets had hit him while that was happening. Stukov looked at Raynor, the other target he apparently needed to spare. 'Tychus. Distract him.' Preparing the next Massive Shove might take a few seconds...

* * *

"Fenix?!" Raynor yelled, watching the dragoon fly off towards the base. He fired at Stukov, trying to end the shove, but his bullets had no notable effect...

"We should back off." Jaina warned. "If we stay, we could get overwhelmed..."

"We can take them!" Varian yelled, driving Shalamayne through the closest target.

Raynor was about to agree with Varian- if Tychus was pushing from the other side, they should still be able to win. And then a grenade went off next to him. The blast knocked him down, armour almost broken, and he looked up to see who'd thrown it. They had to die next, as Raynor scrambled for his gun. He brought it up, ready to fire on reflex...

"Tychus..?"

"Jimmy." Tychus coughed, cranking up his gun. It fired wild, completely missing, but Raynor ducked nonetheless.

"Oh hell." The realisation that there was likely no secondary attack if Tychus was infested hit instantly. Which needed no further reasoning to tell Raynor that he was now _incredibly_ screwed. "Everyone, retreat!"

"Right!" Jaina confirmed. "Come on, Varian!"

Uther swung his hammer at a target that was too close. "Go first, lady Jaina. I shall keep Varian and Raynor alive as we retreat."

"...Very well. But this ought to help!" With a frosty incantation, Jaina dropped a wave of ice on the enemy they'd been trying to push into before, backing off and jogging.

She made it just far enough from Uther for her voice to be unable to carry over the chaos of battle when two huge groups of infested seemed to spring from nowhere.

 **Author's notes: Cliffhanger time. If only because I'm kinda drowsy right now and not up to writing out the clash. Been pretty ill this week.**

 **Reviewer answers!**

 **TJtrack99: Anti-Magic shell abuse is something I always wanted to use to show off how powerful an attack was, without causing a TPK in the process. Taking down Kerrigan is quite a conundrum right now, but I'm sure there must be a way...**


	23. Chapter 23: Return

'All units, attack!' The order was simple. The only needed. Stukov carefully tracked Raynor, trusting the influx of infested would be able to occupy the other three for just a few seconds. Once Raynor was out of the way, he'd unleash all his other tricks and maybe- just maybe, they wouldn't pull out another trump card from nowhere.

Raynor looked back in panic as he heard a scream. Jaina was faced down by an entire army of infested moving on their backs, shambling forwards with speed. He grabbed his gun. "Break through! Fenix is on the way!"

Stukov raised an eyebrow. Breaking through that many troops was seriously optimistic, especially with the learning he'd applied. Their formation was spread slightly, just enough to mitigate the amount of troops Jaina could strike with her magic. And while it was true that Fenix was almost certainly going to head back for Raynor, could he really defeat that whole army in time?

But still, she was trying. Raynor's attention was grabbed by Tychus, who went in and started to spray bullets everywhere without rhyme or reason. Stukov watched as Raynor shot him in the face. That bullet would have killed any normal creature, but of course, Tychus' infestation was a little above normal.

Varian was the real threat here, however. He was dashing around like mad, clearing out Stukov's infested as fast as they could approach. He was the sole reason Raynor and Uther hadn't been swamped, dual-wielding like it was nothing.

Still, Stukov was ready now. "SHOVE OFF!" He took a heavy step forwards and swung his arm like it was an uppercut. It hit Raynor at an angle, and shoved him off the ground and into the air, carrying him in a beautiful arc. Stukov kept up the shove, and had a moment of fear as Varian cut through the soldiers guarding him like it was nothing. The king went to behead him, and with some effort Stukov raised a hand and clamped it around the larger of the two blades.

It cut through his fingers easily, but was slowed enough to fail to pierce him any further. The shorter blade was driven through his chest, but just as quickly withdrawn in order to block a strike from behind.

The shove ran out, and Stukov jumped back, ordering some more guards in front of him. No more holding back...

'Aim to kill.'

There was a change in style of his troops. Where they previously all shambled forwards, now they broke into sprints and went in for lethal blows instead of subduing ones.

Jaina blasted the closest ones with ice, and actually managed to parry another before spearing them. Apparently that staff was more than ornamental. 'Focus the girl and the healer.' Varian could be left until his support was cut off.

"Jaina, Uther!" Varian swung his swords around wildly, losing ground. Uther found himself surrounded, blows raining against him. "You must escape! I'll live!"

 _Please tell me he's not seriously going to survive fighting my entire army alone._ Stukov flexed his arm, as it finished regrowing. Jaina stumbled back. "Fine! You better live, Varian!"

"...As you command." Uther dropped his hammer. Stukov was ordering his men to attack all the same, trying to secure a kill, but then a golden light enveloped him. _Of course it's the invincibility. Fine, forget him._

Jaina was summoning some kind of portal around herself, about to cast a spell. She was no doubt about to escape as well... but Stukov had come prepared, as he punched his arm through the floor. "You are going nowhere." He murmured, as the extension mutated into a mass of purple liquid. It would be difficult to explain precisely what it was, but an extremely volatile mind-numbing drug would be the closest answer. The liquid was a kind of anaesthetic that became gaseous when exposed to the air, and could permeate the skin to produce an instant mental block. Said drug would quickly lose effect if not being constantly applied, but Stukov only needed one and a half seconds.

She was now standing still and silent in the middle of his army.

Uther, true to prediction, had become totally immune to all harm, and was now disappearing. Stukov shrugged. One kill was good enough. And he could likely make it two now...

Varian was alone.

Stukov stepped back, and co-ordinated his forces. Tychus concentrated gatling fire upon him, and many others managed to aim and fire rifles. Hundreds ran at him, trying to outright crush him, or claw him down or strike him with fists or splash him with acid. Even Kerrigan would have been in trouble against all that, likely forced to try and create a huge explosion to thin the numbers.

So why. In the name of DuGalle. Was this man still alive after twenty seconds?

Stukov watched as he moved at outright superhuman speeds. He took hits, no mistake. The armour he was wearing was denting and one of the shoulder plates had totally broken off. But he blocked all the heavier ones, without even seeming to think about it. Acid? Dodged. Bullets? A bullet should easily tear through a human body and a steel plate. Stukov had a strange feeling that this man simply wasn't going to respect that. So he got ready to set up another shock of the mind-dulling arm.

And let it loose.

Varian kept going.

Stukov was now ready to accept that Varian knew what he was doing when he brought nothing but a sword to fight the zerg. But still- his forces were landing hits. Varian's armour was coming apart on his body, literally being torn apart or melting under the corrosive powers of zerg acid. His swords flashed faster and faster, but Stukov still had three-quarters of his army.

A baneling got in close, at last. The explosion splattered everywhere, and Varian's right glove and boot dissolved.

But he didn't go down. Once the acid reached the skin and started to eat through, Stukov saw it clearly. He saw the wound close. _A healing factor? It must be above even my own! But... he hasn't shown it in any other circumstances. Perhaps it's conditional? Either way, Abathur will be interested... As am I.  
_

The battle continued for another twenty seconds, as slowly but surely Varian began to get overwhelmed. Stukov's soldiers were piling up beneath him, as he never slowed down even a touch, drenched in sweat and blood.

Carefully, Stukov held his arm at the ready and moved closer. Breaching this man's defences would take perfect timing. He'd not co-ordinated the use of individual limbs on his men before, but reaching into their minds, it was no more difficult than normal orders.

For half a second, nothing went for Varian. And then all at once, six attacks moved. Three at the back. He twisted out of the way of two, the third going through the ribcage. Two on each side. One missed. One tore at his arm, opening a deep wound. And Stukov at the front, opening his infested arm out in a crushing maw. Varian tried to parry. Stukov crushed his two swords together, holding them still. And with all his strength, ripped Shalamayne out of Varian's grip.

He tumbled to the floor, fight leaving him.

"...An admirable effort." Stukov noted, prying out the sword stuck deep in his left arm. There would be time to inspect it later. Now he had to focus on making sure that nothing managed to finish off this superhuman warrior before he could infest him.

" _Acquiring Targets..."_

Stukov's attention snapped to Fenix. The Dragoon must have warped in- but what was he doing?! A series of holographic targeting reticules sweeping over half his army plus himself let him make an educated guess. 'Underground!' He ordered, a moment too late for many.

Fenix unleashed a salvo. Well, 'salvo' was an understatement. Five shots were fired at every target. Five, multiplied by two hundred was a thousand. One thousand plasma shots in two seconds. Stukov himself didn't have time to get below ground. In desperation, he held the sword he'd snatched out in front of him.

The plasma fire whited out his vision for a good few seconds.

He wasn't surprised to survive. He was a durable thing, and he knew it. But the fact that the sword he was holding was merely covered in soot on one side was a surprise. But then he focused on the threat, and found it had disappeared. Along with Varian.

'Men. Status of captured targets?'

'Female body was incinerated by proximity to plasma barrage, Vice-admiral. Male... gone.'

That was the closest Stukov had come to screaming in rage in over thirty years. As it was, he just hit the ground with his arm once, in frustration.

* * *

"Fenix!" Raynor shouted, as the Dragoon dropped out of warp-space in front of him. Varian dropped to the floor in front of Fenix, some kind of telekinetic ray that had been holding him up flickering out and dying.

"Fear not... Raynor." Fenix's Dragoon shuddered, and then the legs went slack. "..." The lights on it dimmed.

"No..."

"King Varian!" Uther ran over, golden light around one hand. "Your injuries- By the light, I..." He knelt, and put both hands over Varian's chest. Golden energy flowed over his body, and the gaping hole in his back closed, tearing on his arm largely fixed... but he was still bleeding. Uther didn't have enough magic to even fully repair the two main wounds, let alone the countless smaller ones.

"Uther..." Varian brought up a hand weakly. He dropped it, and closed his eyes.

Uther watched him for a few moments, studying Varian's chest. "He's dying. I must take him back to another healer, Raynor. I _must_."

"I hear you." Raynor confirmed. "I'll get and set up contact to Mira ASAP. We can build a comms tower quickly enough. Can your magic help Fenix? I don't have a clue if he's even alive in there." He ran off, to flag down an SCV from the constant digging.

"...I will try, Raynor." Uther got up. His powers were exhausted, and he knew that. But maybe he could at least find... some movement? Uther drooped a little. He only knew that he knew nothing about whatever this golden construct was. But it had saved Varian at the very last moment, wading into an entire army alone. For that deed, it couldn't just be abandoned to die.

Raynor was just getting back to Uther from giving that order, when another thought struck him. "Uther. Where's Jaina?"

"She doesn't seem to be here. I imagine she opened a portal directly to her home, in panic." Uther answered easily. "She has done that several times before, and there was little time to choose the destination."

"Ah. Good. She was a good lady, deserves better than dying to the zerg."

"Indeed..." Uther looked over Fenix uncertainly. "I'm afraid this machine is far beyond me. I can't see any signs of damage caused by weaponry."

"That's okay man. We don't really understand protoss tech either." Raynor looked over the dragoon. "Maybe he burned something out, with all those plasma shots? Or put himself in a coma, or... I dunno. Really, I guess I just owe him thanks for going in to save Varian."

"Indeed. I owe this being a debt. Now- how long until we can get Varian back to another healer?"

"Ten minutes. He'll be alright, Uther."

* * *

"Strange essence... even without, consuming it... strange." Dehaka murmured. In attempting to find an opening to break through into the mining base for today, Dehaka ended up observing Zarya. "Terrans, cannot lift such weights, alone."

A few dozen metres away, Zarya was hefting a huge crate of minerals over to the pile. She was an efficient forewoman, or a very talented guard. Dehaka couldn't find a chink in the perimeter defences, although burrowing in was looking increasingly viable. It wouldn't take long to cripple the SCVs, the engines weren't too tough. That would grind this operation to a halt, without a single kill.

No, what made Zarya's performance here noteworthy was the fact she'd utilised only two heroes as guards. The other three acted as prospectors and general assistants to the mining machines, and they were actually reaping a noticeable benefit.

Still, Zarya was lifting more than a human should possibly have been able to. Perhaps it was a new evolution? "If I could, collect from that, one..."

"It okay. Time later! And Brightwing happy to kill that one too. Didn't want to be friend."

Zarya could have sworn she felt something. Like a tingling in the air. She looked around for anything unusual, listening intently and checking her team for any indications something was wrong- but no, everything seemed fine. So long as she didn't get complacent about things.

"Cassia." She called. "No sign of danger?"

"None, ma'am." Cassia didn't take her eyes off the surroundings. "How proceeds our mining?"

"We will surpass the schedule. But stay on guard, yes?" Zarya said.

"Gladly. Is there anything else you wish to speak with me about?"

"Not right now. Focus on the mission."

"..." Cassia smiled a bit, even if she wasn't facing Zarya. "Will do."

Zarya nodded, and kept her eyes around the area. Dense vegetation was situated over in one direction, and would be the perfect spot to mount an attack from... if not for the fact it was the only spot. And thus, could have resources dedicated to defending against any attack that should come from the brush.

She looked back to the mineral line. She had faith in Cassia and Hammer to hold an unbreakable perimeter line. At the very least, in the time it took one to muster the forces to get past the tank, she could arrange her soldiers into position for a counterattack.

As for the heroes boosting the mineral line... Morales was really just there to keep everybody in peak condition. Tiring out was natural as a task progressed, but she could negate that, as well as keeping everyone clear of the SCVs when they went in to mine.

Zarya had had some reservations about asking the leader of an entire nation to help with lowly mining, but he'd both volunteered his abilities and proven to be far superior to a normal prospector. He clearly had some kind of psychic ability, as he expertly picked out the richest veins of minerals from a distance- and he wasn't adverse to stepping in and sawing through especially tough deposits with his blades. Zarya decided she wanted him as a teammate more often.

She'd personally been doing what she could to uphold a co-ordinated workforce, but they didn't have enough numbers to consume all her time giving orders. So she'd done what she could to carry back some of the chunks of minerals by hand. Strength had more applications than just fighting. Altogether, she felt she was running a good operation here- although Katya would have no doubt managed to do better.

Katya... the current state of her boss worried Zarya deeply. She was a good boss. Of course, she had her shady deals... but she was a good boss. "Sir Artanis. If I could ask a question?"

"You need not address me with an honorific. Those who stand against the zerg are equals. How can I help you?" Artanis asked, taking his concentration off the minerals.

"I'm very impressed by your attitude and performance. And your equipment interests me, as well. I would like to speak to you about this later, If I can. Where can I find you?"

"It is good to know I've not allowed my skills to rust. If you want to discuss something at length, I will wait on the ground in front of Mira's base for an hour, before I warp back to my arkship to recover." Artanis' tone was commanding, yet considerate. Zarya could see leadership ingrained in this being, as plain as day. His knowledge could be invaluable against the threats of the nexus- and Katya could no doubt negotiate for it.

In the bushes she had been keeping an eye on, several zerg started to tunnel...

* * *

Illidan flexed, his shackles close to outright bursting. He was in a cell, true- but never helpless. "To think you would turn to me, Arthas..."

"Do you accept?"

"I have no choice." Illidan answered. "I refuse to stay in this place a moment longer- damn the zerg, demons shall always be the greatest threat to all worlds."

"Then, here is what you must do." Said Arthas, standing before Illidan's cell. "I shall converse with Mira. Kel'thuzad's phylactery must be returned to the safety of Icecrown, until he can be resurrected. You may slip through such a portal to return to the icy wastes, north of Alterac. The gateway shall remain open for but a minute- so you must be sure to allow none to slow you down, or alert Mira to your presence."

"...What's in it for you, Arthas?" Illidan asked. "I know you. Rotten to the core. This is no act of kindness."

"I will be rid of one of those most wary of me." Arthas said, as if he were a teacher explaining basic maths.

"..." Illidan grumbled. "...Fine. If I must leave you unchecked in favor of stemming the demons that encroach on the nexus... so be it."

Arthas betrayed no emotion. "Be ready."

As he turned and left, the very barest hints of a smile played on his lips. Illidan was known for one fatal flaw- thinking that he could use whatever means he wished, as long as he achieved his goal. But now that set him at odds with people who were more than powerful enough to do something about his means...

* * *

Mira's first response to receiving an urgent message that Raynor needed to evacuate two teammates for immediate medical attention was to grab the local DJ.

"Lucio! Lucio! Emergency!" She sprinted along one of her corridors, looking through her sets of guards for wherever- oh, marvellous. Now was of course the perfect time to realise that since Lucio wasn't a mercenary she formally employed, he wasn't on a predictable schedule. So if she needed him in an emergency, he could be _anywhere._ She grabbed the radio on her belt. "Get me Lucio ASAP! It's life and death!"

There was a few seconds of silence, before a reply came through. "Got him with me. Shall I put him on?"

"Tell him to get to hangar two NOW!"

"You heard her, dude." The voice said, clearly away from the radio.

Mira clipped her communicator back onto her belt, and set off for her hangar. It was a precious thirty seconds of full-speed running away, and she slammed the door open to find Lucio already waiting there.

"Mira, what's the situation?" Lucio looked around. "Someone injured?"

"Prep a healing whatever!" Mira ordered shortly, sticking out an arm and waving it around. A portal opened quickly- she was becoming more familiar with this power. "Raynor, can you hear me through there?!"

"I hear you. We're coming through." First through was Uther, carrying Varian. Most of his armour had been completely disintegrated, torn down to shards of scrap. While he was certainly in a horrible condition, normally whatever could break armour like that would also break the person underneath.

"He's... very nearly naked." Mira summarised. "What happened?"

"I have exhausted my mana keeping him alive." Uther explained. "I place his life in your hands, healer of another world."

Lucio nodded. "You can count on me!" His voice flowed with light optimism. Being supportive was something he was well-versed in, and he knelt to get a look at Varian. He wasn't a doctor, but he'd done a bit of first aid training on top of his incredible technology. "Okay, nothing that we need to surgically remove?" He looked over the man. There was a puncture in the back, but it seemed to be... almost miraculously okay? It was about bad enough that bleeding would be an issue of it was left alone, but it seemed like an easy fix.

"Wow, he really is lucky. Didn't hit anything serious, so I'll heal him up now! He should be alright with a bit of bed rest, and make sure he takes it easy tomorrow. No street hockey until-" Lucio caught himself. So used to reminding the people at home they shouldn't play an intense sport after an injury, that it persisted even now. He reached down to the device he kept on him, and activated the sonic technology.

Almost at the same moment, Raynor came through the portal, with extreme difficulty. He was carrying Fenix on his back with great effort, clearly almost giving out under the weight. "Whoo... made it through." He set down the huge metal device, and collapsed next to it. "Damn, my back..."

"Holy moly." Mira looked over at Raynor. "Someone ate their vegetables. How did you lift that?!"

"Power assist in the suit." Raynor wheezed. "Lucio, do your thing."

Lucio looked at the machine. "Uh. What happened to this guy? Is my tech even going to work on some alien machine- but leave it to me. I'll take care of him. Let's see if there's any damage."

"If it's anything more than exhaustion, then it's going to be caused by over-exertion." Raynor explained. "He went in to pull Varian out, and blasted the whole enemy army. Speaking of..." Raynor got back up with some difficulty. "I'm heading back. They don't have much of a force there now, but I can't leave the men without any leaders. Look after Fenix, okay?"

"Hold on, I'll go and back you up." Mira volunteered. "Wouldn't mind going for a walk anyway." She grabbed her radio. "Lucio, I'll get some people down here to help you shift that guy to a bed."

"Got it."

Lucio was subsequently left alone with an unconscious man and dragoon... although he was sure he could feel some kind of presence from the Dragoon. A mental buzz. Maybe whatever was driving that huge machine was okay?

Well, it was up to him to make sure.

* * *

Fenix was very surprised to wake up with his life support telling him only a few human hours had passed. He'd quite knowingly RKO'd himself to save Varian- Raynor could be trusted to watch his back for a moment, and burning a few hundred zerg in the process? Well, that was quite the nice bonus.

But still, he'd expected to be out for the count for a while. Overloading his dragoon would have meant it needed a long time for auto-repair to deal with all the microscopic damages done, and he'd have probably been forced to sleep for a few days unless it was taken in for repairs aboard the Spear Of Adun.

But no, all systems were reporting they were as good as new. The external sensors came back online, feeding a 360 degree view of a room around him to his senses, transcribing sound and light with the closest accuracy protoss devices could. It wasn't as fine being a whole, uninjured protoss, but it was an acceptable second life.

"I am ready to fight once more." He announced, rising from the ground. There were a few terrans in this room, all in varying states of injury upon beds. A few tended to the wounds of those in the beds. So this had to be an infirmary.

A terran he didn't quite recognise walked over to him. "Hey, good to see you're up! We didn't really know how to treat you, but I've been running a regeneration booster. Everything seem alright?"

"I am in perfect condition!" Fenix confirmed with a hearty enthusiasm. "Your efforts are most welcome, terran healer- what is your name?"

"Oh, I'm Lucio. Good to know you're feeling fine, Fenix. Raynor was really worried for you."

"Ah, Raynor! I do hope his other friend was able to survive his entrapment."

"Yep, just by there. I'm gonna stick around here and keep an eye on him for a little while, so you're free to leave whenever you want."

"Excellent. I shall prepare to return to the Spear Of Adun for a time, in order to train and rest. But until then... I would gladly come to know you more. You seem a friend of Raynor, after all."

"Oh, Raynor's great!" Lucio beamed. "Real good guy. We work together sometimes."

"I can only agree- Raynor is honourable and just. And always ready to fight for that justice." Fenix said.

"Justice... Hm."

"Oh?"

"It's nothing. You're one of those people that think Justice is really important too, right?"

"Of course! Justice is a fundamental part of any good society."

"Ah, then there's someone I'll introduce you to later. You'd get along with him great, trust me." Lucio sat down, and crossed his legs. "...Hey, mind if I ask a question?"

"Of course not. Although if you're to ask about my dragoon, then I must tell you that I am a warrior, not an engineer."

"I was actually wondering if there was anything you guys did for sport? Or maybe some training I could join in on?" Lucio asked.

"...There is little sport to be had for a dragoon, but I suppose we can devise some training. You seek to grow stronger?"

"Well, that's part of the reason. But you seem pretty cool. And it's easier to get to know someone if you can do something together." Lucio offered.

"Then let us train. I shall think of something by the time we next meet, Lucio." Fenix started setting up the routines for a warp to outside the ship. "For now, I will go."

"Bye."

* * *

As Mira recalled the two operations for the day, she found that she was strangely accepting of the day's comings and goings. Jaina was missing in action, but Uther seemed adamant she would have escaped. Fenix and Varian would be kept from the fight for a day, but that was okay, she had reserve forces. Raynor probably needed a bit of rest, but he'd insist on heading out tomorrow, and she wasn't going to argue- he was an inspiration, and a great help to any team.

So, how had Zarya's little group done? Mira did admit, it seemed like a solid team. But she'd wait until she saw how they did before drawing reports.

As she waited for them to come back through the portal, there was a slight delay. Zarya came through first, huge laser cannon lifted with perfect posture. She set it down with the barrel pointed to the floor. "We have mined four thousand and sixty units of minerals. Three SVCs have taken integral engine damage in an unexpected attack, but there are no human casualties. All team members are ready for another deployment as required. Repairs are projected at seven hours per SCV, and we can start immediately." Zarya listed off.

"What happened in the ambush?"

"Around thirty zerg came through the floor and aimed to cripple our machines, before fleeing. We couldn't kill any of the large ones, but we got a few of the..." Zarya looked to the side in irritation. "...lings? Is that name, yes?"

"Ah, 'lings." Mira nodded. "Well, the SCV repairs are a bit of a pain. But minerals are minerals! I'm impressed by the haul." The rest of the heroes stepped through the portal. "Ah, Artanis!"

"Mira Han." Artanis addressed her formally. "There has been some damage to your equipment. Otherwise, I found no challenge against the meager amount of zerg. I shall warn my protoss of such tactics in the future."

"Alright, alright... Ah, I don't mean disrepect, sir." Mira bowed awkwardly. Even if he'd effectively been doing manual work for the day, Artanis was _far_ above her rank in truth. Even if she didn't owe him the time of day, staying in his graces was very important to a group of mercenaries that didn't want to get on bad terms with the most elite warriors in the sector.

"I shall organise gathering operations of my own to contribute to Raynor's plans." Artanis continued. "I've now seen for myself what we are fighting here, and will treat it no less seriously than I would the same zerg threat back in our universe. Expect to receive mineral contributions for your cannon tomorrow." He folded his arms, readying a long range warp. "When the time comes to take the fight to Kerrigan, I will ensure the protoss are ready. For the justice and good of all. In turn, I expect you to make good use of your chance to win."

He vanished in a lattice of blue energy before Mira could respond, and she was left looking at empty space. The promise of help was good, but Artanis' expectations placed a surreal weight on her.

 _I'm already at war with Kerrigan herself. Why does this make me nervous? ...Oh yeah, because Artanis is good at speeches._

 **Author's notes: Still alive, just writing around. Making drama happen. Ready for a little bit of consequence about the whole Tychus situation? For Illidan to make his bid for freedom? Otherwise... morale is ticking up. Lucio is on his feet. The cannon is coming together. Are you guys excited?**


	24. Chapter 24: Glimpse

"I must return this phylactery to my castle. It is imperative that it is not damaged." Arthas carefully set the urn down on the table, where Matt noticed a twinkling of frost instantly form.

"...What... is that?" Mira pointed at the urn.

"This is the phylactery of Kel'thuzad. So long as it remains intact, he can be revived. And thus, retain his memories of this world- unlike other heroes that fall." Arthas explained shortly. "That is why I ask this boon of you, Mira Han." His voice carried like a winter wind.

"Well, I don't see any reason not to." Mira shrugged. "How long will it take to drop it in your broom cupboard?"

"Hold on." Matthew put a hand up. "How can we be sure you'll come back? I don't mean to be cruel- but right now we can't afford to lose people."

"Tsk. Raynor hasn't taught you much about trust, huh?" Mira put her hands on her hips. "Worst comes to worst, I open a portal under his feet."

Matthew looked down. "Apologies, Arthas. You can proceed."

"Open the portal. I shall need a minute." Arthas instructed.

"Alright, alright." Mira held her hands out, and gave the fabric of reality a firm tug. The air in front of her opened to reveal the inside hall of a castle, all lit in blue. A chill ran through the room, as Arthas picked up the phylactery and walked through, finally in an environment that matched his perpetually icy mien.

* * *

A guard put down a hand of cards. "All in." He grinned, and looked at the other two players.

"Like hell." The second guard said, staring at the deck. He moved to put his own cards in, not looking at the locker on the other side of the room. If they had, for some reason, been paying attention to that locker, they'd have seen green light coming from it.

And then there was a clang, of metal hitting metal.

Everyone looked at the locker as it was dragged across the room for some unknown reason. One drew his gun. One went to go and see if there was something in the locker. One of them made the correct choice, and stepped back.

There was a huge bang, like a set of steel bars being ripped clean out of the wall. Then the quick footsteps of someone running, and _then_ the event that made stepping back the correct choice.

Illidan punched straight through the wall, and the locker burst open. The guard who'd stayed in the middle of the room with his gun drawn was flattened by the debris pelting him, and the guard who'd gone to check the locker was cleaved in half by the warglaives of Azzinoth bursting out, jumping into Illidan's hands.

And without pausing for a moment, Illidan sliced through another metal wall, coming out in a corridor.

He ran along it as fast as he could. If anyone- anyone at all appeared, he dove for them and vaulted off them, uising them purely for a movement boost. He came to the stairs and jumped onto the wall, kicking off it and then kicking off the other, ascending the floors faster than the elevator could possibly hope.

He hit the top floor in seconds, aware his sole chance was already drawing to a close. The door was at the far end of the corridor, and Illidan dashed. His demon wings boosted him for all they were worth. He backhanded the door open hard enough to imprint it into the wall.

There was the portal. Mira was grabbing her gun as fast as she could, Matthew was scrambling for a weapon- Illidan ignored them, and leapt like a pouncing tiger. It was ten metres to the portal, and five to a well-placed swivel chair. He hit the chair at full speed, coasted the remaining five metres, dodged the shotgun blast, and jumped through the portal.

For one second, he was free.

But before he could even touch the floor, he was stopped. He hit something as he was coming out of the portal. He couldn't possibly have sensed it or reacted to it, with the portal in the way.

Illidan landed on Frostmourne, held up by one Arthas Menethil. Without any chance to dodge or mitigate it, it went straight through him like a knife through butter.

His blades clattered out of his grasp, and he gasped, reaching for the blade.

"Treacherous... bastard..." Illidan choked out.

Arthas looked up at him dispassionately. "How predictable. I shall see you in a year, Illidan." He ripped out Frostmourne, and kicked Illidan in the stomach for good measure. The demon hunter folded like a deckchair, collapsing to the floor.

Arthas watched the droplets of blood on his sword freeze and fall to the floor, and stepped back through the portal after an appropriate few extra seconds had passed.

He was back on the bridge, where there was now a large dent in the wall next to the door, and an ugly set of scrapes on the bulletproof windows. "...The escapee has been slain. He was a fool to try and attack me in my domain."

Mira blinked, and Matthew lowered the pistol he'd drawn. Mira looked at the portal. "Dead?"

"Dead." Confirmed Arthas.

"...Well, then I just hope he didn't do too much damage when he escaped." Mira sighed, and put her shotgun away. "You're uninjured?"

"I am not to be bested by the likes of Illidan." Arthas answered. "I shall return to my own business. Let the fate of the betrayer serve as a warning not to strike at my back."

Mira watched him walk out, and looked at Matthew. A true professional, he was already reviewing the security footage of the lower decks. And at the realisation he'd probably handle the paperwork for this mess too, she could practically feel a twisted relief. Paperwork was worse than getting mauled by an ill-tempered demon hunter.

* * *

The rest of that day was normal, mercifully. Stukov's ship remained in the orbit it had been in for so many days, still preparing to launch missions.

'So, in conclusion, I...' _Am considering having my liver temporarily disabled, so that I can get drunk and forget about that disappointment of a mission yesterday. '_ Believe that we need to make an attempt at limiting the enemy's power, Kerrigan. They have gathered a significant amount of minerals, enough to build several Thors, or many smaller machines.'

'We will not. Our sole goal now is to return to Koprulu and bring as much of our allies' military strength with us as we can.' Kerrigan's thoughts came through perfectly clearly.

Stukov frowned, and put a hand on the brim of his cap. '...I've been keeping track of the enemy forces. They have still got a significantly higher number of otherworldly heroes under their control than we do. I worry that if we leave them unchecked too long, they may mount an offensive against us.'

'Don't spend your time worrying about that. Zagara has total control of the planet's surface, and if they open a portal onto our ships then I'll come and crush them myself.'

'Very well. Then I only ask how you are progessing with the singularity.'

'...It's difficult. It can't be forced to give up it's secrets, even by my psionics and will. It's like trying to listen for whispers of knowledge through a wall or door. But I think I'm onto something... I'll need more time.'

 _Care to be less vague?_ 'Understood. I will continue to stall.' Stukov tapped out of that conversation, and looked at his next set of plans. He was done playing games now- each and every strategy was intended to isolate and kill, without any chance of escape. The remaining infested heroes at his disposal, the Anub'alisk and Butcherlisk were both ready for deployment. Tychus was still bound to Kerrigan, and he could order Dehaka in too...

He sat there, bothered. He still felt irritated at how he'd had his prize snatched away yesterday, amongst other, smaller things. Dealing with foes that could become completely invulnerable at the drop of a hat was still high on the list of irritating things, but Stukov did feel he was getting to know how to beat that trick.

The door of his bridge creaked open a bit, and there was a scrabbling sound as something tried to push it open but didn't exert enough force. Then it was seemingly effortlessly opened, and Dehaka walked in.

"Your report?"

"Enemy, retreated from fight. Could not, capture." Dehaka answered.

As expected. "Did you manage any disruption to enemy supplies?"

"Expansion, denied."

Stukov nodded. "That will be all. Return to your ship, and be ready to act." He expected that to be the end of the conversation.

But of course, the childish one spoke up. "...Friend upset?"

"Hm? You are referring to me?" Stukov looked at the flying reptile, and she didn't shy away at all. It had been more than a week- she'd gotten used to the zerg.

"Aw, it is okay! Brightwing look out for friends. Cheer them up!" She went gliding around the room, before landing on the back of Stukov's chair. He kept a face carved from stone, preparing himself to order her to respect her commanding officer. "Do you need... food? Play? Hug? Heal? Cleanse? Magic protection? Sheep?"

"Is she like this for you, too?" Stukov said tiredly, as Dehaka hesitantly watched the scene play out.

"Symbiotic, relationship?" Dehaka didn't shrug exactly, but didn't sound very sure of himself. "Offers healing. I, protect. But, she does not expect, protection. Asks for 'friendship'..."

Stukov felt a weight on the right arm of his chair, before a head poked under his arm and looked up at him. "Are you a dog, or a lizard?"

"Friend is grumpy. Brightwing fix." She said cheerily. "Help Dehaka when he is feeling stressy! Help Lunara when feeling upset! Help you too."

Stukov grumbled, and looked down at the overaffectionate lizard. "'Stressy?' What on earth do you stress over, Dehaka?"

"Cannot, change here. Even with essence, I can only heal. Not, change."

"Hm. Fair enough." Stukov shrugged. "I have no need of a therapy dog, childish thing." He gently pushed at Brightwing.

"Want to do anything fun? Make you feel better?"

"...How does she stay alive? Surely something should have killed her if she goes around like this all the time." Stukov said.

"Good, instinct." Dehaka answered. "Knows, limits."

"..." Stukov just went quiet for a few moments. He had serious doubts about the sincerity of something this whimsical, but it was the closest thing to affection he'd recieved since he'd known the name Duran. He sighed. "Perhaps we can do something together- let's concentrate all our efforts on the same group tomorrow. Perhaps even make a friendly competition of it. You can see if Dehaka's forces will outdo mine. Does that satisfy you?" The plan had already been in the works. If anything, she'd just been a way to make the decision easily.

"Sounds fun! Brightwing will fight strong. Oh, but you will need extra person! Should be fair competition, if friends!"

"...I have someone in mind." Stukov pushed Brightwing off the side of his chair, and she flapped into the air. "Now, begone and rest."

"Yes!" Brightwing blinked out instantly.

Stukov sat back. "You'd think she was not horribly infested... I suppose that it's even. Better than many. Anyhow, good luck putting up with her until Kerrigan finds a way back."

"...She is, good. Offers, healing. No expectations. Still... strange. Knows I could kill her, and does not disobey, but... seems to help for other reasons." Dehaka's tail flicked, tapping the door. "...Why? I offer, protection. But, she is strong enough, to protect herself."

"Well, I doubt she's trying to get something off you, nor do I think she could. Maybe she really does want to be friends. Ha. How strange. Letting your guard down amongst the zerg like that really doesn't end well normally."

"Friends... Do not, understand term."

"It is nothing more than a way letting someone know that you would share an amount of trust above average. Although it does also have implications of mutually helping each other, and bringing one another enjoyment, or spending time together to learn more about the other. There are no actual requirements, however."

"...Symbiotic relationship, with... enjoyment." Dehaka made a confused noise, and slunk out of the room.

Something about knowing how much confusion one of his co-workers was going through did manage to put a bit of a guilty smile on Stukov's face.

Perhaps that short chat did make him feel better. Or at least take his mind off the problems of yesterday.

* * *

Lucio wasn't really sure what to expect when he saw Varian walking around. It was just yesterday that the man was confined to a hospital bed! But then again, here he was. Wearing a simple shirt that Lucio had a sneaking suspicion Morales had selected to be just a little too small. Because the current size screamed 'I have enough muscle to split rock by throwing a basketball at it'.

As it was, Lucio was just hanging around in the space between Hyperion and Mira's tower. The cannon was really coming along now, with a sturdy base constructed they were in the process of setting up all kinds of machinery to supply and concentrate power.

"Hey Varian." Lucio hopped over. "How you doing?"

"I feel much improved. You have extremely potent medicine here." Varian looked around. "Alas, I've been forbidden from helping on the field of battle for another two days. And even so, it will take a while for my order to come through."

"Oh? You ordered something?" _...Amazon delivers to here?_

"My armour was completely destroyed. Shalamayne is almost indestructible, but unfortunately it was taken. So my kingdom will supply me with a set of Grand Marshal's armour until my old set can be remade. And an extra set of weapons." Varian explained. "Until then, I shall just be training and keeping an eye on Alterac Valley."

"Ah, okay. You know, I'm actually planning to meet the guy who saved you here for some training. No idea what we're gonna do, but maybe you want to stick around and join in?"

"Of course. You should never pass up an opportunity to train!" Varian smiled. "And I must thank that machine. What is it, some kind of golem? Or a vehicle?"

"Uh... I think it's a vehicle. Heard something about the driver being injured."

They had a fairly casual talk for a few minutes until a blue set of lines appeared a little to their left, quickly turning into a set of hexagons that heralded a long-range warp. Fenix appeared on the dry ground, without so much a blemish on his dragoon.

"Ah, Fenix! It's good to see you again." Varian said. "I offer my deepest thanks for saving me."

"Think nothing of it." Fenix responded confidently. "I am glad to fight by the side of someone that is filled with such a righteous fury."

"Ha! Now that's some praise I'm glad to hear. We should trade stories sometime. But for now, may I join your training?"

"It may be difficult without any form of weapon. I acquired a holographic projection upgrade, to summon illusory warriors for Lucio to fight against."

"Oh, neat." Lucio said awkwardly. "...Uh, but can I use my gun for this? I might hit someone if I just fire it out here."

"Hmm... indeed. I assumed you would carry a melee weapon, though." Fenix asked critically. "Although I have heard of Terrans fighting with only their fists, I doubt such a manner of attack could pierce a zerg carapace."

"Ah, I know what you could do." Varian seemed to brighten. "I heard from Johanna that Tyreal left you his sword. It would be a shame to let a legendary weapon go to waste, so why don't I train you to use a blade?"

"Oh, uh... it burns my hand when I hold it." Lucio said sheepishly. Then he caught himself, and perked up. "But getting taught how to use a sword sounds pretty good! Maybe we can find a baseball bat or something to use as a practice weapon."

Finding a pair of practice swords was surprisingly easy. Two actual machetes hadn't been what Lucio was expecting, but the armoury was open and apparently even in the age of space warfare, you could still get a sharp metal block on a stick if you asked for one. Although these were intended for clearing out vines, or cutting ropes.

Then Lucio ran into Valla, who was kind enough to remind them that they had an actual practice range.

And after that...

Lucio went skidding back a bit as Varian blocked his basic swing.

"You know, whatever those things on your feet are you should probably take them off." Varian lowered his sword, as Fenix intently watched them spar.

"Maybe. But... well, if I ever do need to fight with a sword, then I'll definitely be wearing these." Lucio answered. "So I want to learn how to fight with them on."

"...Well, I suppose. But without solid ground to stand on, you'll not have any power behind your strikes."

"If I position a foot like this, it won't slide. Basic part of stopping with the skates. Here, let me me try and hit you?" Lucio asked, bringing up the blade in preparation.

"Do your worst!" Varian yelled. Lucio immediately felt sure that trying to do his worst would get him cut in half. Varian looked at him hesitate for a second. "Friendly advice- best not to hesitate to press the attack if the enemy is just posturing. If they're buying time, or trying to intimidate you, then you can bet they really don't want to be attacked."

"Makes sense. So... ready?" Lucio got the machete ready again.

Varian took a theatrical breath, and held out his sword in a classic stance. "COME, TASTE THE BITING STEEL OF MY BLADE, THE MIGHTY THING DESTINED TO CUT THE WORLD IN TWAIN-"

There was a clatter as Lucio's sword slammed Varian's.

"...Not bad." Varian nodded. "Much better than sliding around while hitting like a wet sock. Now we need to work on giving you mobility in combat. Staying in one spot without a shield is simply making yourself an easy target for arrows."

"Well! I reckon I can do that, Mister Varian." Lucio grinned. "I've been skating since I was five. Shouldn't take me long to be able to weave in my attacks!"

"Come at me, then. Do your best to strike from all sides. Outmanuovre me as best you can. We'll do a few more repetitions of good striking form, and then we can really get into Fenix's training."

Fenix spoke for the first time in a while. "This is most interesting! Templar traditionally use two blades at a time. I would look forwards to seeing how you fare against my training holograms, Varian."

* * *

Mira looked at a chart with some names on it, and crossed Illidan off. "You know... we really need to be a bit more careful with our heroes."

"I know." Matt chimed. "Although I dare say Illidan was out of our control, considering he broke out of the brig. Have the medical reports come in?"

"Over there." Mira sat down. "Well then, after today we'll have been under siege for nine days. The gun should only need another three to five, and then? Bang, and the dirt is gone."

"Five days..." Mused Matt. "We can hold out for five more days. So let's not tempt fate. We have to keep our groups together."

"Ah, Matthew. Always so uptight. What would be wrong about breaking out a nice bottle of wine the night the shoot Kerrigan down? I've got one saved just for the occasion, the label says it's this special kind of wine called 'Vodka'." Mira snickered.

"That's the day we need to be most careful. If anything's going to push her to throw everything she has at us, it's the prospect of certain death." Matt countered. "Staying cautious is our obligation as commanders. Even you should know that."

"...I hate it when you make sense, even if it's also smoking hot."

Matthew didn't show any reaction. "Well, I would consider keeping your soldiers alive to be pretty cool."

Mira froze. This was impossible, surely. "...Oh, suck the fun out of it, why don't you? Getting you flustered is the best entertainment going!"

"Ha, I've gotten used to it, I think." Matthew smiled. "Mira, if you want to take a few hours to relax, then I'll write up the medical reports and sort out tomorrow's teams. We might not be married, or even see eye-to-eye... but I can respect someone who does paperwork that they don't like."

"Oh god, now _you're_ flirting with _me."_ Mira put a hand over her chest in mock horror, and started walking towards the door. "See you later, Matthew."

* * *

The bar was lively, as always. Varian and Uther were catching up with Muradin, while Lucio gave the jukebox a rest, providing lively music that was on the verge of starting a dance. Someone pushed the doors open, with a small sigh and a smile, looking over the room.

"Ah, Jaina!" Varian lit up. "You did manage to escape! Had us worried then, ha."

"It was close. But the portal was just in time." Jaina walked over, and sat down lightly. "I'll be honest, I nearly didn't make it! I thought I was going to be torn apart. But I fell through the portal, and I was able to fight off one of them and get healed."

"...Yes, I was quite worried when I saw them swarm you. But I suppose you're an archmage for a reason." Uther commented. "Welcome back, Lady Jaina."

"Have I missed anythign important in the last few days?"

"Illidan broke out of his cell, and tried to escape through a portal Mira opened." Varian leaned forwards. "But what he didn't know is that it was a portal straight to Arthas' seat of power."

"Oh... dear."

"Suffice it to say, he didn't survive that." Uther added. "As he deserved, considering he cut down anyone in his way as he tried to escape. Perhaps not as villainous as Arthas, but that kind of action is not made by a good ally."

"But why was Mira opening a portal to Icecrown... Or wherever Arthas is currently using as a castle?"

"I don't know. Arthas is still here, but I hardly expect you to ask him." Varian said, leaning back. "Oh! Have you let Mira know you're back? She marked you as missing, even though we were sure you'd escaped with your life."

"No, I haven't. I'll be off then, Varian. See you tomorrow." Jaina got up quickly, and jogged out of the room.

Or did she..?

* * *

The night passed, and it was restful for both sides. Right on time, the first of this planet's suns was rising in the sky, and Lucio stretched and sat up.

Amazingly, he felt better than if he'd slept in his normal bed. Yesterday had been a good day, learning how to use a sword and then having a friendly night of chatter and music. "Mornin', Muradin!" With a push, he hopped out of bed. "Beautiful day out there, let's go get stuff done!"

"Aye..." The other bed shifted slowly, and the cover peeled itself back. "Five more minutes..?"

"C'mon man, five turns into fifty real easy." Lucio was already pulling on his full set of clothes. "But sure, see you in five. Wonder if Jo and Valla are already up?"

As it turned out, they were. Johanna had settled into a daily routine, where she'd be in the tower's lobby first thing, reciting her daily vows as a crusader. Then she'd have a light breakfast on the Hyperion, and report to the daily meeting to see if she was needed for a mission. And then she'd train all day.

Lucio could see how she was able to throw that shield around like a frisbee, at least.

He caught her just as she was about to leave the building, Valla in tow. "Hey, Johanna!"

"Ah, Lucio. We were just going to get breakfast." Johanna was in full armour at half six in the morning. And looked perfectly normal in it, carrying her entire body weight in steel like it was a normal shirt and trousers.

"Nice, I'll go with you. Got any plans for today?"

"Just the normal, although I would quite like to get sent on a mission."

They walked off, going through the next few minutes without anything worth noting, until they all sat down. Lucio couldn't help but be amused that Johanna and Valla's respective breakfasts matched their colours. Johanna had poached eggs, Valla had just one tomato. Apparently not hungry.

Lucio was about to start, when Valla actually started a conversation.

"Tell me something."

"Hm?"

"What do you fight for, Lucio?" Valla said, simply. "Faith? Tradition? Vengeance?"

"Oh, uh..." Well, that wasn't a question he was expecting over breakfast. "Well... I guess I fight for my friends."

"Hmm..." Valla stared him down. "Alright."

"Maybe more than that. I guess I just want the best for people. I don't think good people should have to suffer, you know? And maybe sometimes people that have done bad things just need a second chance, and they might need to fight for that, too. So I'll fight to try and give them that chance, and put a stop to the things that really aren't any good. How's that?"

Valla just nodded. "..."

Johanna smiled. "It seems like you've given a good answer."

"Nice! Hey Valla, what about you?"

"Vengeance. There's no denying it. I will wipe out demonkind just as they have tried to wipe us out." Valla said simply. "But in the meantime... I'm not opposed to using my skills to hunt down other things."

* * *

Matt looked out over the group of heroes. The marines would be preparing to head out around this time, and the SCVs should be freshly refuelled and repaired. And so, it was up to him and Mira to select teams for the day.

Having Jaina back was a relief, but maybe it wouldn't be good to send her out so soon after a near-death experience. Zarya's team had produced exceptional results, but the damages they'd taken were too much to have a repeat performance. But she'd likely learn from her previous mistakes, so... Zarya, Cassia, Hammer, Morales, and Muradin. He'd heard Muradin had some experience with mining, which did align with Zarya's strategies.

For the second team, he was a little torn. But he'd made up his mind at last.

"Raynor, you're having a day off. I won't send you out today."

Raynor, standing at the front, blinked. "Why?"

"You're doing great, but you need to look after yourself. A day off is for your own safety... And my peace of mind." Matthew said.

"Yeah, okay." Raynor stretched and stepped back. "I'm not gonna argue with you, Matt. Who's on the team for today?"

"I've heard the Nephalem would like to fight together, and I think they've enough experience with us now that we can leave a mission to them. Could I have Johanna, Valla, Kharazim, Sonya, and Nazeebo?"

"We would be glad to fight together." Johanna looked at her fellows stepping forwards. "Shall we meet you at the hangar in ten minutes?"

Mira grinned. "That would great, sweetie. There's an important mission for you five."

* * *

Kerrigan focused. She was so close to feeling something important, she was sure of it. Her mind reached into the depths of the singularity, exploring its powers and mapping them out. She was deeply in-tune with the power of this gemstone now, even if it was otherworldly and foreign to her.

But as she asked it to open a portal home, she still only felt lost. It didn't seem to knew how to open a gateway to Koprulu... but that was ridiculous. If it could cross dimensions within the Nexus, surely it could get them back into the fight in the Koprulu sector?

She focused more and more, dedicating as much of her mind as she could.

Faintly, she became aware of something. She could see it so vaguely, in her mind's eye... but she was sure she could see 'home'. Open space, with a planet below that could have been Korhal or Agria or any other Terran planet, and that was the Hyperion above it, with her own Leviathan nearby.

That was how things were meant to be. All her universe, united against one common threat. Not divided as they were in the Nexus.

Was it a vision of the future? Kerrigan instantly _thought_ it was, decided it was. But internally, some small part of her whispered something.

Something truly horrifying...

 **Author's notes: Getting towards the apex of this mess of a story. With any luck, it'll be worth some attention. I actually intend to write another story, but for that one... I'm going to do something REALLY drastic...**

 **I'm going to plan it out in full and write my chapters a few weeks in advance.**


	25. Chapter 25: Truth

Morales looked out at this world she was helping mine on today. It was... idyllic. A long field of rusty-red grasslike plants, divided by a clear stream. A few small cairns of raw minerals jutted up, which was why they were here.

For the first time in a long while, Morales felt somewhat bad about mining resources from a world. This place was beautiful. But that was vastly outweighed by the knowledge that the zerg would have absolutely no problems digging into the middle of their base in this place... but that would be their only method of approach.

"Okay, team." Zarya called. "We are guarding the SCVs today. We will keep them under closer watch, if zerg appear- shoot them quickly. Understood? I will use the marines to help mining, not us."

"Understood, ma'am." Morales saluted. Easy orders. They just revolved around the five of them staying nice and alert. Surely nothing could go wrong?

* * *

"...It's almost too quiet." Valla kept a bow pointed forwards as the nephalem crept through the facility they'd found themselves in. Wiring lined the walls, paint flaking off. This place was old, but had clearly been used often before something cleared it of people.

"This place is dead." Nazeebo intoned. "Perhaps it was never alive. There are no spirits here."

"Remember, we're just looking for another fuel can." Johanna whispered. "That's all. Once we find one, we can go."

They kept on going through the corridors, checking room after room of the old building. They passed a billboard covered in papers, and most of them still looked freshly printed. This place might have been some kind of port in days past, but Valla couldn't recognise any of the things it offered. She just knew she was looking for a red container, or one marked as diesel. What she could recognise was this atmosphere... this wasn't the kind of feeling she had in a place where she was safe. And thus, she would treat it as seriously as the hells themselves.

* * *

"Which location to assault..?" Stukov considered the information Kerrigan had just passed to him. Since today he'd be focusing all the forces under his command onto one target, that did change his normal thinking.

But... what strategic importance did that mission in the abandoned starport have? There were no minerals there. So the chances are that they were searching for something that was important. It was a shame to let such an excellent atmosphere and abundance of points to trap or ambush go to waste, but it was one of Kerrigan's unbreakable orders that they would keep the enemy where they were. And that meant allowing critical missions to succeed if necessary.

So, how to best plan an attack on the remaining world..?

The plain was an ideal location for defense against small strike forces, which he and Dehaka were both limited to. The ground was even throughout the whole location, and there was nowhere to hide or secretly observe from. Normal attack tactics would have said that you needed to take units and rush the enemy before they could get entrenched, but Stukov had no doubts they'd already fortified the position, so a long-range shelling would be the answer...

If he didn't need to try and keep people from the Koprulu sector alive. Overrunning this place manually was the only option, then. But still, an answer presented itself. "Dehaka. We will have to make a pincer move. Strike from two sides at once, to limit the effectiveness of any wide area attacks. If we can time this correctly, they shouldn't be able to focus on one of our armies without being destroyed by the other."

"...How, should I, approach?"

"Both of us will burrow units near the perimeter, and then resurface outside the towers. Coming up inside would make us too easy a target." Stukov explained. "Focus attacks on the turrets, and then we ought to be able to subdue the terrans. It may be costly, since we can't kill ninety-five percent of our enemies... but it will work. I have accounted for everything, I am sure. Do you want a rundown of the special abilities our enemies have? Or have you seen them before."

"...I, will overwhelm them. Destroy, tools, yes?"

"Yes. We may not be able to kill them, but I recommend you take anything they may be able to use against you." Stukov confirmed. "Preferably do not destroy anything I may be able to learn from..."

He looked at the side of his desk. Shalamayne lay there, cleaned. A few measuring instruments surrounded the weapon, along with a Geiger counter and an old sonar machine. Stukov couldn't understand anything about how the weapon functioned, but he was sure it was otherworldly- because no matter how he held it, he couldn't get a proper grip, as if the sword resisted his very intention to use it. And that alone told him that it was something more than met the eye.

Still, there were other things to focus on now. 'Abathur. Is the specimen ready for deployment?'

'Ready for combat.'

'Send it to my hangar, and transfer control to me.'

'Yes.'

Stukov got up from his chair, and brushed his jacket straight, looking at Dehaka, and Brightwing who hovered in the corner. "It is time. Victory above all!"

Brightwing flapped into the air. "Will do good today! Show you that Dehaka strong too!"

Stukov marched around the side of the table. "You'd better prove those words."

* * *

Hammer's tank parked in the middle of the ring of turrets, constantly on the lookout for a threat outside the base. Hammer liked her tank. It had gotten her to the prestigous position of 'most experienced siege tank driver in history of humanity', and as such was treated to all kinds of little upgrades. It had cup holders. It had an extremely small fridge, with one can of beer. It had an air freshener, conveniently positioned away from the display screen after a very near miss.

And more practically, it had radar systems, seismic monitors, a psionic measuring tool, and a miniature rocket engine. So Hammer felt pretty confident in leaving it to look out for them, because it would only fail to detect a target if they were digging directly upwards- and that meant they'd emerge inside the base, which is not somewhere you should aim a siege tank.

So she sat in the elevated chair at the top, looking down at Morales. "Hey there girl, are you a supply depot? Cuz I'd stop to look over you!" Hammer yelled down.

Morales visibly sighed. "That's a new one." She looked up with a smile. "But a good one, in an awful way!"

"Hah! That's ole' Bama's specialty." Hammer leaned back, and put one leg over the other, hands behind her head. This was a nice place... probably a great world to take a nap on, if you're not on duty. But alas. Hammer kept her eyes open, looking out into the distance.

Morales returned to her watch. While Hammer projected an uncaring aura, somehow managing to never fail in her duties or whatever passed for a military inspection in her branch, Morales' training had been strict and unforgiving. She systematically passed her eyes over the section of terrain assigned to her, looking for any sign of movement, or irregularity in the way the grass swayed, or a sound, or anything that could indicate a threat.

And while she wasn't sure, she could have sworn that some of the grass just raised itself imperceptibly. "Bama?"

"Yes, ma'am?" Hammer tossed out sarcastically.

"I think the grass in the distance moved. Scan it."

"Right away." Hammer got down to business, and dropped into the cockpit of her tank. A few seconds later she'd booted up the scanner, and was waiting for it to use up the battery. Again. This thing was annoyingly power-thirsty. She half-expected it to turn up nothing, but if service had taught her one thing, it was that it was better safe than sorry. 'Sorry' often equated to 'torn to shreds'.

And lo and behold... a collection of little dots starting pinging on her radar.

"OH, S-"

* * *

Stukov stood a full two kilometers out. The attack had begun, and with the speed that the Anub'alisk had demostrated, they should be able to close a significant portion of the distance to the target encampment before they were detected. Dehaka would come up from the ground just outside the perimeter on the other side a fraction of a second later, and then the zerg would do what they did best, and overwhelm the enemy with numbers and speed.

He was rather annoyed when a mortar round landed in the middle of his forces. Detected a full ten seconds early? That could cost them... but the odds were still tipped far in his favour. He willed his army to press on, running through the abilities he was up against today. There would be no surprises this time.

Fifteen seconds to impact. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One...

'Now, breach the enemy lines! Disarm the enemy and move on! Secondary unit, focus the missile towers!' His command resounded through the minds of his troops, and they obeyed instantly and without question. He focused on the Anub'alisk. One of their earliest acquisitions, it was apparently seduced into joining. Of all possible fates it could have suffered to end up infested. Now Stukov took control of it directly, manipulating it as an extension of his will.

The Anub'alisk had one priority target: The siege tank. Once that was disabled, then the enemy were cut off from their best method of clearing out his soldiers. Stukov willed the Anub'alisk to unleash the ability he'd selected it for, and it blasted the tank with a fast-drying kind of webbing, instantly sealing it in place.

Stukov broadened his mind to check on his troops as a whole and the battle at large, and saw the other side of the base being rapidly overrun by Dehaka's pack. The primal underlings might have been little more than fodder against most heroes, but they were easily managing to rush down and subdue the marines here. Well, subdue might be too gentle a term. Stukov was pretty sure that more than a few of them were using freedom from a hivemind to inflict some damage.

So with the rest of the base under relative control, he focused entirely on the four active heroes. Medic, cannoneer, lancer, and axeman. Next priority was the medic, but she was effectively protected by the positions of the- Oh, she turned into a sheep. How convenient.

With the important targets down, Stukov ordered his army to charge, and had the Anub'alisk fire a wave of spines at the postion of the enemy heroes to pin them down. Dehaka's forces had largely taken their half of the base, and now Dehaka was warily fighting against Cassia, evading her spear but not managing to effectively return attacks.

Stukov fixed his attention on his fellow russian. Taking her down was something of a matter of pride. Although his sense of nationalism did give him a tiny hint of satisfaction as he saw this woman was the hardest one to take down of the bunch, standing tough against all his soldiers... But she wasn't invincible, and was swarmed down even as she picked someone up by the throat and swung them like a weapon.

He watched as the medic returned to her normal self, but too late to save Cassia as Dehaka found his opening and struck out, dragging her into his pack. The healer backed up, and got behind that dwarf axeman, beam engaged. Stukov was spending a second trying to work out the most efficient way to bring them down when the axeman jumped. It was an awesome jump, easily seven or eight feet into the air and twice that in length. Stukov internally nodded. There was no escaping this situation, might as well go for-

His chain of thoughts was interrupted as he watched Brightwing fly up above Muradin as he was mid-jump, and with a burst of magic, winds slammed the dwarf into the ground. And Dehaka was fast enough to catch him from that small stun, throwing him back into the pack as well. Excellent teamplay for beings outside the hivemind.

Well, that left the medic, and also actually subduning the tank once the bindings wore off. Stukov debated running her down with his armies- it wouldn't be at all difficult. But he did recall he'd made this a competition, and he was happy to give away that particular aspect of his victory in exchange for a little morale boost to his allies. So he took his armies of infested and ringed the siege tank as its' bindings cracked and started to give way. It wouldn't do to have a mortar round detonate in the middle of his forces _after_ the battle.

With everything taken care of, Stukov relaxed just a little. Perhaps he'd experienced many failures on the route here, but he had finally secured a total victory on one of his missions- even with the insane handicap he had imposed. Now it was just a matter of holding them and taking them to Abathur. Perhaps he'd even go over there himself, the address his fellow russian and servicewoman.

* * *

Zarya could barely believe things had gone so wrong. How? She was the strongest woman in history. She had a fortified position, artillery, troops, a particle cannon- nothing should have been able to approach! And then there was the shame and fear at the loss. She'd 'lost' before, in her many sessions of training and even in one or two actual battles she'd been forced to call a full retreat. But never had she lost anywhere near so swiftly, so utterly, and so... _finally_.

Katya would never have made such mistakes as to allow this, surely.

But for now, Zarya looked around for anything of use as some of the infested produced a few pairs of grimy handcuffs. There was no concievable escape route. No weapon within reach- all the normal guns had been either confiscated by the infested or snapped in half. Her treasured particle cannon was oddly undamaged, carried over to a pile with Cassia's spears, Muradin's axe and hammer, and Morales' shield.

No escape... and no chance to try and turn this around. Mercy? Not likely.

"Katya... I am sorry. I abandoned you recklessly." Zarya whispered. "Perhaps in the next life I will do better." She shook her head, and held it high. Stay strong for the others.

Morales had put her hands up and surrendered completely, and was cuffed the same as her. Hammer had been dragged from her tank, and was sitting right next to Morales with the most furious expression Zarya had seen. Cassia had kept struggling until she actually managed to get a hand free and blasted Dehaka in close-quarters with a bolt of lightning. He seemed to shrug it off and with some difficulty grabbed both her wrists in one arm, while holding the other three outwards, poised to strike.

"Stop."

"Never!" Shouted Cassia. It was a testament to her own durability that she was still struggling like she was uninjured, considering Dehaka's grip had crushed her gauntlets.

Brightwing landed on top of Dehaka. "Stop, or I will turn you into small thing!"

"Must I repeat myself?!" Cassia struggled, sparks building around her, before true to threat, she was also turned into a sheep. She was immensely quick and skilled, but that wasn't worth much when you had all your strength sealed, and didn't even get horns to butt with.

"...Should we, bind?" Dehaka held the furiously kicking sheep in front of himself. "I, am not, used to capturing, unharmed."

"Brightwing think you should just keep holding her. Will tire her out! Oh, but be careful!"

Zarya's attention was grabbed by that familiar speech pattern. "You." Her voice carried through the camp. Zarya had worked out that something was wrong by now. Why was everyone still alive? It would be one thing to spare the important people, or even the majority and use them as hostages... but sparing every single soldier? That kind of tactic... well, it would put the attackers in grave danger.

"Hm?"

"So, it is true." Zarya said, dry anger in her voice. "You did betray us all."

"Brightwing not betray you!"

"I did not expect you to care for most of us. But Lucio says that you seemed to have friends among us." Zarya glared. "They will likely die. I hope that whatever you betrayed us for was worth it."

"...Didn't mean..."

"I have said my piece." Zarya looked away. She was suddenly aware of a ripple passing through the crowd of infested soldiers. They all stood to attention, making way for one more to walk to the front.

"Well, it wasn't a bad piece." Stukov said, as he walked onto the scene, surveying the controlled chaos. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. To those of you that have not met me before, I am Vice-Admiral Stukov. I will be responsible for what happens to you next, but I am... under situational constraints." He put his arms behind his back. "For now, if you have an injury, I advise you to speak up. I will have it seen to."

He concentrated a little, issuing orders to his men. 'Round up all the marines, and the SCV pilots by that Siege Tank.' His forces responded, and quickly began corralling the subdued marines into a group around the tank.

Stukov walked up to Hammer. "Fortunately for you, I am not permitted to kill you." He picked her up with one arm, and pushed her into two more of his soldiers. "You will be returned alive and unhurt." He turned, and moved onto the medic. The UED Medic. So many old memories resurfaced looking at that white armour. And the face within had appeared on his reports more than once- the most exceptional medic they'd ever known, who subsequently defected to the dominion after the UED's crushing defeat.

"Lieutenant Rosa Morales." Stukov stood above her. "You stand guilty of treason. I would be well within my personal rights to execute you here. But of course... that would be quite hypocritical." He picked her up, and pushed her into another waiting pair of guards. "Pray you never see me again."

Stukov turned to Zarya, Cassia and Muradin. "You three will come with me."

Cassia kicked, as the other two were picked up. The polymorph wore off, and she continued to struggle, beaded with sweat. "I'll see you blasted into dust!"

"I wish you could."

* * *

Mira had that sense again. That looming sense of something really not being good. At this point, she was convinced it was the singularity, because nobody had intuition that was this accurate... apart from most of the protoss. But still, that dread was all the worse when you knew it was justified.

She called up a few of her men, before she went to open the first portal. Sonya stepped out, carrying two large cans of diesel, shortly followed by the rest of the nephalem. There wasn't so much as a scratch between them.

"How did the mission go?" Asked Mira cautiously.

"We did not encounter resistance." Valla said shortly. "If there was a trap, we must have completely avoided it."

Mira nodded. "That's good to hear. And this'll probably be our last fuel mission, since the cannon is almost complete. Excellent work, team."

"...Is something the matter?" Johanna leaned in a little. "You look quite pale, Mira."

"Oh, that's just my skin tone. Humans have like five or six different colours." Mira laughed nervously. "...Okay, I've got a bad feeling. That's all. I shouldn't be superstitious, but-"

"You seem to be listenin' to the spirits well, then." Nazeebo interjected.

Mira stopped, in moderate horror. "You..."

"They whisper it to me." Nazeebo said, mask eerily full of expressions. "You better stop talking to us, and get on with your task."

Mira decided to do exactly that, and ran for the other hangar. Refueling the generator could wait, because the alternative right now would be...

She made a wholehearted attempt to rip the hangar door off its hinges, to save that precious extra two seconds, and dashed across the room, calling on the powers of her singularity. Blue energies curled around her arm, wispy and crackling, before she willed them to open the gateway to the mining operation. It opened, holding there in the air.

Nothing came through. Mira waited expectantly, but the portal just hung there. Her blood felt like it was ice, as she cautiously poked her head through the portal.

She'd expected to see either carnage, or just the area wiped clean of any trace of life. What she instead found was the base, destroyed, SCVs ruined... but all the marines were still present. All the mined minerals had just been left where they were. And she could see Morales and Hammer standing around- Hammer's tank was still intact too.

"Hello there?" Mira called.

"Mira! Thank goodness you've come." Morales ran over. "We were completely overrun- they've taken Zarya, Cassia and Muradin!"

"And they left the rest of you?!" Mira raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I don't know. Look- I know this seems suspicious, but none of us are infested. I've spent the time checking."

"I'm not taking you all back in straight away. You're absolutely sure that your checks can't be wrong, yes?"

"Yes, ma'am." Morales nodded.

"Then I'll just have to check that you're not a changeling. Come through the portal. Everyone else, stay put- I'll be back soon." Mira stepped back through the portal, and cocked her shotgun. Now was the only chance for any potential shape-changer to throw off the Morales disguise and attack her, so... best play things cautious.

Morales stepped through, and put her hands up. "Er... Please don't shoot."

"Don't plan to." Mira said casually, reaching down to her radio one-handed, and grabbed it off her belt. "Matthew dear?"

It crackled, before Horner's voice came through clearly. "Mira?"

"I need a medic to check for any sign of infestation. ASAP."

"Understood."

Morales stood there uncomfortably, keeping her hands up. "They took my shield, and all the shells out of Hammer's tank. Otherwise, we're both fine. Some of the marines had bones broken, but nothing that I couldn't fix with just my healing beam. It was like they were actively trying to avoid hurting us..."

"Well, that makes no sense." Mira remarked, putting her other hand on her shotgun. It was tiring holding that thing up by just the handle. "Any idea why?"

"I think they wanted to take our heroes alive. I think they're going to infest them." Morales said gravely. "Or worse, hold them over us. Admiral Stukov is known for his skills in using psychology to weaken his enemies."

"Admiral Stukov?" Mira questioned.

"He was my superior, before his betrayal of the UED and subsequent death. I heard he was infested, before I was brought to the nexus." Morales explained.

"Ah. I did forget you used to belong to the uppity bastards."

"Please, we meant well when we conquered your sector. It just..." Morales shook her head. "Forget it. I'm not going to say something that stupid."

Mira stifled a small laugh. "Wow, they really drummed that one into you, hm?"

"...The UED is ultimately a fascist power. They DO intend to see mankind to survival and prosperity, but... you can see things their way, or be executed. We had our good points, we had our bad ones. I won't pretend I'm sad to leave them behind. I'd never have met Bama if not, after all."

"...Are you two in a relationship?"

"No..." Morales looked at the shotgun. "Er... Well, that is to say... Not... It's like... platonic."

"Relax, I'm only going to shoot you if you make any sudden moves, reach for your weapon, or mutate into some horrible zerg thing." Mira said casually. "Platonic, hm?"

"Yes, platonic. How can I put it... we're... well, I'd stab a man for Hammer. But I wouldn't sleep with her. Not into that."

"Are you suuuure?"

"...No." Morales admitted. "Well, I know I'd stab a man. All medics are trained in self-defence, and I know all of the body's vitals. Still not sure if I'm into that."

"Honestly, I don't know why I'm bothering to get another medic down to check you at this point. The zerg aren't that emotional." Mira shrugged, a smile on her face. "I suppose we'd better get down to working out our next move about the people we've lost, hm?"

"That would be good."

* * *

The bridge of the Aleksander was alive with the spirit of success. Dehaka wasn't prone to outbursts of emotion, but it was clear he was quite pleased to have won the small competition, judging by the fact he wasn't making any effort to actually move the debriefing along, having just offered Stukov a small "Good, plan." when they got back.

Brightwing was celebratory at the mission success combined with the small extra win, although Stukov noted her energy was below the level he'd been expecting- likely because of what Zarya had said to her. He inwardly felt a small measure of good judgement at managing to mitigate what would probably have been a short return to initial days here, when she was full of fear and her usefulness hindered.

Stukov himself would have, in the old days before infestation, had a single glass of whatever his beverage of choice was, and then gone straight into planning the next mission or doing the paperwork for his men. Now, he only had to keep an eye on his prisoners, and... he actually had free time. Something of a novelty to a man like him. He supposed he could use this time to read a book, or maybe have a casual conversation. But, duty first.

Stukov looked at his brig. Cassia had summoned several javelins of lightning, and even blown a hole in the wall at one point. Her sheer stamina was actually starting to impress him, although having to constantly have guards move her from cell to cell was annoying. Still, soon she would be infested, so there wasn't much point in shock-proofing a cell just for her. Zarya and Muradin were calmer about the whole ordeal, likely trying to work out an actual plan for escape- not that such a thing were possible.

He was just waiting to see if Kerrigan wanted anything more concerning them before he handed them to Abathur. And after a few minutes...

'Stukov.'

'What are your orders?'

'...'

Hesitance. Stukov could feel an intense feeling flooding the hivemind. Fear? Sorrow? Defeat? A damp, aching feeling of futility. 'What is this?'

'It's all for naught.' Kerrigan told him, tiredly. 'We can't go home. We're already there.'

Stukov blinked. Surely he'd heard that wrong. Already there? 'What do you mean?'

The hivemind grew heavy with a sense of failure. Complete, utter failure. 'The Nexus. We all thought it was just... another dimension, or a collection of them. With portals linking those dimensions.'

'Is it not?'

'The Nexus is an interdimensional superstorm, created by the simultaneous releases of immense amounts of reality-altering power in four different universes.'

'I do not recall us releasing anything great enough to create multiple galaxies.'

'Amon did. His influence, along with my own psionics, and other influences like Tassadar's sacrifice- all of those had immense amounts of psionic power. I'm not sure about all the other worlds, but I sensed something that called itself The Iris, and there was an immense pool of magic too... Regardless, those powers were enough to stir up this storm of interdimensional energy.

'At the moments where great amounts of power was released, those nearby were drawn into the nexus. It's like... say I drew you with a marker pen, and it soaked through the paper and was drawn into the table as well. The 'real' you would be the one I'd just drawn, but on the table there exists a perfect copy.

Stukov had to think for a while to try and process the concept, before it started to dawn on him. 'You're implying that we're not real.'

'Our true selves were never drawn into the nexus.' Kerrigan said. 'We're just... mementos. It's why we always return exactly the same- why we can't seem to really change. We can't go home, because outside this storm, we cease to exist.'

'But we remain in Koprulu, yes? Amon will not succeed.'

'Yes. That's the good news. But... now what?' Kerrigan said. '...This life here- it's meaningless. We're all just copies of people who had a lot of power, and were in the right place at the right time. All the suffering I've inflicted on the terrans below- all I've done is made them hate me. The greater cause it was meant to serve... it's impossible to fulfil. Now I've just recreated the hatred and struggles of Koprulu in another world.'

'You think this is all meaningless?'

'...It's like this life is a game, and we're characters that can't change, even as the world around us does. A game that could be turned off at any time when this storm clears. Why even try anymore?'

'I will admit, this is... an unwelcome development.' Stukov's face didn't move. Everything he'd struggled through here was meaningless, and he was nothing but a glorified afterimage, fated to one day cease to be. An improvement over some aspects of his normal life. 'If this life is a game, then we should play like nothing matters.'

'What?'

'You make it sound like this is all completely inconsequential. Like we will all disappear right now. So why not just do whatever you want?'

'Actually... that doesn't sound like a bad idea.' Kerrigan's mind started to turn again. 'Even if I'm not real, strictly speaking, that doesn't change the fact that I'm a thinking being. I wouldn't mind going through some new experiences, trying some things. Finding out the complexities of this storm.'

'Like those said to be indigenous to this place. How do they fit into this?' Stukov asked.

'Good question. Their realm was completely consumed by the storm, and is especially susceptible to dimensional travel. Once the storm disperses, they're the only ones likely to remember us here, and also the only ones who might see any of us again.'

'Then we should try and either make a good impression, or conquer them.'

'...I know what I want to do.' Stukov could sense Kerrigan had suddenly sat straight. She had a certain feeling about her. The one that reminded him that she had next to no moral compass when it came down to it. '...We're going to kill everyone we oppose, to erase their memories.'

Stukov raised an eyebrow.

'And then... I'm going to make amends. Even if none of this matters... If I don't have to live in knowledge that I'm causing nothing but grief, then it will be worth it. This life might be a game where nothing matters- so I'll play for some time I can spend where I'm not a pariah to the rest of the Terrans and Protoss.'

'By killing them all.'

'Hey, they'll come back. Do you have a better idea? Stukov, I entrust the task of wiping out everyone below to you. I'll help however you want, while I work out a way to destroy the Spear of Adun.'

'...' Stukov carefully shut off the hivemind, after that bombshell of a conversation. This changed things. It changed them deeply. And Kerrigan was mistaken if she thought he was going to accept that and keep acting like nothing had changed.

 **A/N: Not many chapters left. How they play out is yet to be seen- But I assure you, nothing is going to be predictable.**


	26. Chapter 26: Gambit

Stukov was lost in his thoughts as he tried to calculate the most effective way to kill Kerrigan's enemies. Regardless of what he was going to do next, Kerrigan had had her entire motivations swept from underneath her without warning. He noted with some irritation that it had come just after he'd pulled off an incredibly difficult no-kill mission.

"Friend? Are you okay?"

Stukov came out of thoughts to see Brightwing peering at his face from a very close distance. "Hm?"

"Looked like you had a bad thought."

"...Yes. I have been given some things to think about." Stukov murmured. "There's been a change of plans." He said, certainly. "We're no longer aiming to capture our enemies. Kerrigan has ordered we wipe them out."

Brightwing backed off. "...Oh."

"I think that we have everything we will need to do that." Stukov announced. "But expect a fight tomorrow. I will need to request some information from Kerrigan..."

Brightwing flew back to Dehaka. "Friend... Brightwing need to talk. Alone."

Dehaka slowly looked to Stukov. No words were needed to say that she was being a bit open about her doubts now.

Stukov just nodded. "Begone to where you will." He considered the enemy as a whole. Significantly easier to destroy than they thought they were... Kerrigan had taken the more difficult task in destroying the Spear of Adun. But with the awesome powers of her singularity, he doubted she'd fail.

No, all he had to do now was bait out Mira, and the rest would be an inevitable win. Perhaps if he co-ordinated with Kerrigan a little, then the Spear of Adun could be delayed, better focusing their efforts... An idea was quickly taking shape in his mind- along with a goal of his own.

* * *

The control centre of Dehaka's leviathan. Brightwing had only been permitted to enter this sensitive place for about three days, but the room already felt familiar, the same as the forests of home. A place of safety. But this time, she could't have felt more out of place.

She knew it. She was the only one amongst the zerg with any intention of sparing anyone- she was the only one with friends down there. And while they were still alive, she wasn't going to abandon her friends. True, she'd probably eat them if they were dead, but... well, the dead don't make for good companions.

She truthfully had a lot of friends. There were other faerie dragons in the nexus, they all liked her well enough. But friends outside them? Friends that she made in other groups, with new and exciting things to offer? She could count them on both forepaws.

And right now, the only way to stop one of the few friends she'd found outside her own race from dying would be to bargain with all she had. "Dehaka, friend... Brightwing has... thing to ask. Very important to me."

Dehaka had been just behind her, shutting the door. He looked at her knowingly, leaning on his larger arms. "You, want to, avoid killing, that one. I remember, them."

"Yes yes... They are a friend, like you. Brightwing would do anything for friends. Don't want them to die."

"You, must not try, to intervene. You would, be killed."

Brightwing flapped, looking all around nervously. Dehaka was so calm about this, she couldn't meet his gaze. "But what about friend? Won't let him die!"

"You, have no choice. If we, do not kill them, Stukov, or Kerrigan, will."

"Then hide them! Find way to get them to safe place!"

"Where? We cannot, open, a portal." Dehaka paused. "And, I will not, betray, swarm. Will not, throw away life, for nothing."

"...Then Brightwing fight Kerrigan, and stop this!"

"Do not. You cannot, win that fight."

"But then what do?!"

"You cannot, save him." Dehaka said plainly. "Not, possible."

"Have to try. Will try. Will keep friends alive."

"..." Dehaka growled in frustration. "Do not, try. I will, stop you. For your own, sake."

"Won't be stopped! I will... do anything. Will turn you into sheep if I have to!"

For the first time, Dehaka spoke with an intimidating tone. "Do not. If you fight me, you will die. I do not, intend to try and collect from you."

"...Won't hurt you." She backed down a bit. "...But I have to do thing. Can Brightwing do anything to change mind of friend? Or get any help for saving other friend?"

"..." Dehaka knew that it wasn't possible. Lucio's fate was sealed with a dozen layers of insurance. Maybe by spelling it out... "The things that are, stopping him getting away, are that he has no way, to long-term safety, and that, only you, would betray, Stukov. Any other zerg, would tell him. Or, kill Lucio."

 _Betray... that word gets pointed at me a lot today._ "...Um."

Dehaka looked at her. She was loyal to him, or at least not capable of hiding a betrayal. She'd convinced him of that much. But he couldn't help her here. Just try and protect her from the consequences of her own actions, and hope that did him more good than harm in the long term. "I will..." He looked around. He was no stranger to secrets, hiding your intentions. But it was deeply risky, all the same. "If you, find a way... I will not, tell, Stukov. If we must kill him, I will do it, quickly... leave his essence, to you."

"Brightwing will find a way. Have to."

"Be, careful. I will, survive. If you, make me, choose, life and death... I will, live."

"...Brightwing understand." She breathed out, and looked out into space worriedly. She'd been given all the support she could hope for, and she knew it. "...Thank you."

* * *

A few hours had passed, and night had fallen. Unbeknownst to the people of Deadman's Port, Stukov's new plan had taken shape, and he'd obtained all the information he'd need to win.

The adjutant on Matthew's bridge beeped. "Incoming transmission of urgent priority. Caller unknown."

Matthew looked up. "From where are they calling?"

"Transmission traced to the vessel 'Aleksander'."

"Put them through." Matthew pushed his papers aside, and focused on the adjutant.

Stukov's voice came through clearly. "This is Vice-Admiral Stukov speaking. I currently hold three of your number hostage- and I know the value they have. I am willing to return them to you. If you are confident in making a gamble, at noon tomorrow, I will bring my most elite squadron of troops to this planet, the location of which is now in your adjutant. If you come and beat them, I will release your hostages unharmed and free of any infestation. If you do not appear... I will feed the hostages to them."

Matthew frowned. "How are we meant to know it's not a trap? "

"You misunderstand me, officer. I am simply telling you where your next battle will be fought. Because I doubt you can ignore this- and I have no intention of pretending we are not going to do everything in our power to kill you all. Good luck." There was a click of something being used to end the call.

Matthew had no idea what to say. This was...very unexpected. Were the zerg getting desperate? Did they have an ulterior motive? How were they so confident in their strength? Regardless... He went for his phone, and dialled Raynor. "Commander, we have a situation."

* * *

In ten minutes, Raynor and Mira were on the bridge. Horner had played back the call, before ending it.

"I don't trust them one bit." Raynor said harshly. "Kerrigan's got some plan about this, and it ain't good for us. But we gotta get those guys outta there."

"..." Mira looked down. "Unfortunately, you're right. I think I know what the zerg are up to, here..."

Matthew looked at her. "Go on."

"I would normally just cut our losses here, and leave them to die. The chances are we'll be against incredible military strength here- that's not the kind of battle you can win against the zerg. And even if we do win, the chances he keeps his word are nil. But if we don't go to save them... he can make us look like monsters to the people we still have. Sowing that kind of distrust would put us all in danger... too much of it."

"Well, I'll go. And I've got just the team to go with me. They made it way too personal by taking _those_ hostages." Raynor said, cracking his knuckles. "Zarya is Lucio's oldest friend here. Cassia? Valla and Johanna adore her. And Muradin's stood and fought the zerg as good as any of us have. I'll get those three to back me up for sure. Any idea who should be our fifth?"

"Raynor, be careful." Matthew put his hands up in warning for a moment. "Think about this. There's a chance this is to bait you out. If we lost you, then we'd fall apart."

"I know, Matt. But it's okay, because we've got a trump card here." Raynor grinned. "Mira, want to resurrect me a few times? I know I won't survive if I go and fight the zerg all alone. I only made it this far because a lot of good people were willing to die for me. But here, they don't have to. I'll take a small team and face them down, and-"

"It won't work, Raynor." Mira said. "I need someone right next to me to revive them. If there's a way to do it at range, I don't know it yet."

"...Oh. Damn, okay. Then we'll need an ironclad battle plan. Even if we can't save those people, we need to try. And I think we all know that we can get a lot of damn stuff done when we try. First things first, let's go and check out that world. The zerg are probably already there, but with some scouting we can figure out what kind of strategy to use. I'll go gather up a team for the main battle now, okay?"

"Okay, those are good first steps." Matthew nodded. "Mira, you get ready to help with the scouting. I'll begin preparing our marines."

* * *

Raynor watched Lucio skating around casually, jumping off the side of the ruined buildings. "Lucio!"

The DJ hopped across a few small walls, and vaulted over an abandoned vehicle. "Hey, man. What's up?"

"We got a situation. Zarya got captured, but Stukov offered her in a bet. We can try and save her by fighting our way to her, and I figured you'd want in." Raynor's natural charisma shone through, but he wouldn't have needed it.

"Zarya? Right. I'll get ready right now, James." Lucio nodded, and made to skate off immediately.

"We're setting out tomorrow, kid." Called Raynor.

"Uh... if you're sure. Shouldn't we hurry?"

"If the info we got is true, then we have time. Runnin' in without any plan isn't the best way to do things."

Lucio slid back. "Yeah, you're right. So, anything that needs doing in the meantime?"

"Along with Zarya, Cassia and Muradin got taken. I'm getting our squad back together, but who should we take instead of Muradin?"

"Wait, Muradin too?! What happened to them out there?"

"Morales said they got totally overrun by elite zerg, but they seemed to be actively trying to spare people... probably wanted to take them alive to force us into a risky rescue- but we're gonna save them." Raynor explained.

Lucio felt something stir inside him. That kind of tactic just seemed so... scummy. Holding his friends over them, to try and hurt everyone else. "Raynor. I'm with you, man. And I know just the person to be our fifth."

The news spread from there. Lucio told Valla and Johanna along with Raynor, and they stepped up without a second's hesitation. And together, they went to the bar, looking for one ally... but the room was all too quick to support them. Falstad was out to give his gryphon a revenge kill. Sonya was up in arms at learning Zarya and Cassia were taken. Thrall and Gazlowe had a bone to pick with the zerg. Varian was forbidden from going by Uther, as the old man jumped out of his seat and openly swore to bring justice down on whoever had imprisoned a fellow light user.

It was almost hard to pick a final member. Raynor was strongly considering taking everyone along, but eventually he settled on taking two. It was an extra team member, but with all the good things Sonya had to say about them and how they managed to mesh with even an unfamiliar unit, stronger than an avalanche...

Surely bringing along Arthas was the best choice?

Raynor looked at everyone else, seeing how they tried to contain disappointement and even anger. "You'll get your chance, folks. I'll make sure of it."

"...Alright. But be careful out there." Jaina said. Raynor couldn't shake the feeling that her words were directed at Arthas... and not in a familiar way. In fact, ever since she'd returned, there'd been something different about her. But ultimately, that could wait. Right now was the time to get ready to fight.

* * *

Stukov regarded his plans. The aim was to create a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation for Mira. Whereby her presence would be absolutely required in two areas at once.

Normally, these situations would be tough to set up. Especially against someone with godlike abilities thanks to the singularity they'd picked up. But now, that singularity would be her undoing.

Stukov looked through an overlord to see Warhead Junction. This was the world to which Mira's singularity was tied, according to Kerrigan. It's automated production and capability to fire nuclear weapons was the 'power' which fuelled Mira's abilities. Destroy the nuclear arsenal, and her abilities would cease to function, singularity disappearing.

If Mira herself came, and also dedicated a significant amount of her resources to defending this place, Stukov admitted she probably could stave off both him and Dehaka. But then Kerrigan would be free to laser Deadman's Port into the ground, destroying any allies she hadn't brought with her... and letting Zagara come over here and crush Mira at leisure with her huge brood, since Mira didn't have a second Psi-destroyer.

But if Mira didn't come, she'd lose her abilities, and wouldn't be able to protect Deadman's Port from Kerrigan's orbital laser. Stukov had to admit, he'd underestimated the value of having a death ray as your special ability. Writing it off in favor of Mira's utility singularity would be a mistake he was careful not to make again.

He sat back, and watched as more and more of his army and Dehaka's pack filled up Warhead junction. Things were so much easier when you didn't need to worry about mercy...

He grinned. And yet this time, there would still be mercy. Of his own, vengeful kind. He was very careful to guard that thought, keeping it from slipping into the hivemind.

* * *

Lucio's room felt so empty without Muradin. The bed was still there. The patch of ruined carpet was the same, the grindstone lying in the cupboard. He'd only known the dwarf for a few days, but he'd been an awesome friend.

And Lucio wasn't about to just let him be lost to the zerg. That wasn't what Lucio Corriea Dos Santos was all about. He was going to get a good night's sleep, recharge his gear, and show up with a smile and a touch of humor before kicking the stuffing out of whoever was responsible. And then throw a nice, low-key party to help Muradin get back into things.

He looked at El'druin, lying there on the side. Better just polish it before going to sleep.

As he went for the few bits of kit that Johanna had provided for him to clean the weapon, he noticed how good of a sword it was. He hadn't been able to appreciate before, but after Varian's lessons in swordsmanship he could tell this blade was the perfect combination of easy to wield and hard to find a weakness in.

Lucio finished, and looked at the shining sword with a sense of satisfaction. A thought ran across his mind.

"Hey, uh, Tyreal." Lucio took a deep breath. "I'm going to be fighting for Muradin's life tomorrow. And Zarya. Cassia too, but I don't really know her... um... anyway... I don't know if you can hear me, but... if there's anything you can do when you're dead to help me save them... or avenge them if I have to... that would be pretty awesome."

The sword stayed as it was. Lucio very gently placed it back on the set of draws, feeling a slight tingle in his fingers as they brushed the handle. It seemed like his prayer was unanswered. Although he wasn't bitter about that. He knew Tyreal wasn't really in any state to help.

He fell into a determined sleep, steeled against the day to come.

* * *

The daily briefing was hardly a briefing today. Raynor had walked up to the group, and the people he'd selected had stepped up, as the rest looked on in what was almost envy. The zerg would find no sympathy amongst the people who'd suffered at their hands.

Walking over to the hangar seemed to be a slow process. And was very nearly a grim one, of not for Lucio. "Before we head off, anyone need anything?"

"...No." Sonya said simply. The rest of the group checked thier things breifly, before shaking their heads. Even Arthas paid attention to the straps on his armour, but they'd long since been frozen into place.

Lucio could feel the mood still slipping a little, in the face of what could well be an unwinnable battle. "C'mon, everyone. Look at the team we've got. We are gonna do great, I know it."

"The man's right." Raynor chimed in, the other bastion of confidence. "You nephalem are some of the toughest boys and girls out there, and us three are no slouches."

The nephalem shared brief glances amongst themselves, before a small smile graced Johanna's face. "Let's not get overconfident. Remaining alert and focused will be important in a battle so intense."

They made it to the hangar, where Mira was waiting, along with a contingent of marines and mercenaries. The marines stood on one side, and mercs on the other to form a corridor. Mira was at the end, hand over her chest. "Morning."

"Hey Mira. We're ready to move out." Raynor looked around. "...These mercs coming with us?"

"You know Horner'd never forgive me if I let his precious Raynor get hurt."

"Ha... the way you're going, you two might end up in a relationship for real." Raynor smiled wide, and got his gun ready. "Let's get this show on the road."

Mira stepped back, and opened her portal wide. It had taken a week, but she felt she had a comprehensive grasp on her powers now. Of course, there was much more to learn- but she was no longer a novice, stumbling forwards. She was starting to become attuned to her singularity.

And that was why, as Raynor marched through the portal, and into what she knew would be one of the most difficult battles he'd faced in a long time... she was terribly worried. She could feel it within the singularity- something was afoot. Something that threatened them all.

* * *

Raynor stepped into the battleground. A few derelict sentry towers were scattered around, with one large control tower placed near the entrance to a facility. They'd appeared on an elevated area in front of a building, ideal for looking out over the rest of the area. He could see a second row of sentry towers set up in the distance, but beyond that...

"Alright, we've got visual on the creep from here. No time to waste letting them get close." Raynor walked forwards. Once you went beyond the safety of this facility's towers, it was zerg territory. Pushing through was going to be hard and dangerous. Especially with such limited numbers...

But with clever use of tactics, and Lucio's healing abilities, then Raynor was confident he could pull this off.

"What can we do, Raynor?" Lucio hopped from foot to foot, adjusting his grip on his gun.

"Marines, split in half. I want half of you to head through the north gate, and defend that position. DON'T go outside our tower range unless they bring in something that can siege you down- in which case, fall back and get my attention. Other half, same stuff for the south gate. Mercs, with us for the middle one."

"Roger." Echoed the troops, as they split off and away.

A smaller group came running up to the heroes. These were no marines, but instead terran troops known as reapers. No, they didn't use shotguns and have black cloaks, why do you ask? These reapers wore jetpacks for mobility, and used dual pistols should scouting missions turn to fights.

"Commander Raynor. We've found the zerg bases are set up evenly throughout the area. It seems they're using the primal zerg as a first wave, since those are capable fighters without creep. Once those are down, it should be easier to hold our positions, unless they start throwing ultralisks at us. We've also completed the other orders you asked- all the gates will only open for our troops, all the automated defences are active, the nuclear arsenal is nearly online, and the banner is over there."

"Banner?" Raynor asked. Lucio peered around Raynor's massive shoulderplates to see a white cloth banner with Mira's face had been hung over the side of the elevated area in front of the building.

He laughed a bit. "Hey, it's inspiration." Lucio offered.

"Yeah, yeah." Raynor looked at the reaper. "Nuclear arsenal's not online?"

"We'll have a barrage ready in five. Didn't want to start the final steps before you got here, in case we got the zerg riled up." The reaper glanced over. "Gives me the shivers, seeing so many not attacking. If they all rushed us, we'd be in some deep doo-doo."

"Yeah, well, you just get those nukes up ASAP. No guarantee they won't rush us anyway, and we'll need those to do anything about a zerg rush." Raynor answered.

"Gotcha." The reaper jetted away, back towards a nuclear silo.

"Alright everyone, that's our cue. Once the nuclear system comes online, there's no hiding that we're here." Raynor took the group and walked them over to the main gate. It slid open automatically. "I'll handle the tactics. I'm no Nathaniel, but I got your backs. You all just follow my orders and try not to die."

"Nathaniel?" Lucio asked quickly, as the gate started to slide down.

"Old magistrate buddy." Raynor answered just as fast, before rasing his voice. "Alright... Let the battle begin!"

* * *

Stukov observed the battleground, as Raynor made his move. Perhaps it would have been a good move to partially destroy Raynor's fortifications before he arrived, but then he ran the risk of scaring him off from this mission. And ultimately, his goal here was to secure kills- not to claim the area.

'Benjamin, give Dehaka the signal.'

'Yes... ad-miral.'

The primal zerg were at the ready, just barely restrained. The moment one broke ranks and charged, they'd all be running amok of their own accord- while they were all lethal predators, Stukov couldn't co-ordinate them effectively without a mental connection. Neither were they particularly smart, or even obedient. So, they were relegated exclusively to roles that could best be described as 'fire and forget'. In this case, softening up the enemy defences while also buying Stukov time to set up some units that could bombard the forts with acid at a safe distance.

He had no doubts Raynor would strike out and destroy the bombarding zerg as fast as possible. But during that point, he'd be exposed... an ideal time for Stukov to pick off some of his support with a baneling ambush. The man himself was tricky enough to escape if Stukov went for him too soon.

Dehaka was there to prey on anything that was outside the safety of a fort or a main site of battle. Stukov had no doubt that he'd be able to intercept any reinforcements if a point started weakening. And simultaneously weakening one point and killing the soldiers of another should be a catastrophe for the Terran forces. He'd strongly considered requisitioning Brightwing to sustain his assault on the forts, but eventually decided she'd be more beneficial for her ability to prevent a hero using magic to win against Dehaka.

Once the acid bombardment was down, he had Ultralisks ready to charge, and could back them up with a wide variety of lesser zerg. Then he could systematically press the enemy back, before finishing it with a quick nydus worm from behind. If the enemy somehow managed to push into his lines? Dehaka would take his units and cut off the retreat path, encircling and destroying them...

And then, the second this place was falling, and Mira's powers were extinguished? He'd give word to Kerrigan, and Deadman's port would be reduced to cinders.

On paper. Stukov was keenly aware that even the best plans could fall apart in a second.

But for Raynor's sake, he hoped this one held.

'All units. Begin the operation.'

 **A/n: Blimey, wrote that fast. So, thus begins the most important fight of them all- Stukov's attempt at wiping out Mira, Deadman's Port, the heroes within it... all for the sake of Kerrigan getting another chance to make up with them, once they return.**

 **But of course, you know me. This fight may not play out as you expect. Or maybe it will!**

 **Reviewer answers!**

 **TJtrack99: Kerrigan becoming aware she was just a false copy of the real one was critical to this story, because it completely destroys everything her actions were founded on, and makes her a villian- but NOT a villian who's completely generic and is driven by greed, or conquest, or something. She had good intentions, and used force to pursue them. Now she's been left with all the consequences of that, and none of the benefits.**

 **You are right, hope remains. But for who, and how long? Here's hoping I don't disappoint you.**


	27. Chapter 27: Clash

The zerg descended. Lucio watched as they scattered across the grounds wildly, running for their towers with no sense of self-preservation. Small ones dashed in, with all manner of larger breeds behind them. The missile towers primed themselves, and the small band of defenders at this central outpost all primed their weapons, waiting dutifully for the enemy to come into range.

Raynor started firing first, from the cover of the walls. Lucio raised his dubstep gun, and squeezed the trigger. The soldiers with them all opened fire, and with a roar of gunpowder, the terrans matched the screaming and snarling of the zerg.

They crashed against the walls, tearing into the metal with nothing but claws. The automatic turrets fired into the wave, and Raynor cranked the pump on his rifle, before blasting an extra-heavy slug through the gates.

For a horrible few seconds, it was just an exchange of damage. Lucio backed away as the gates started to come apart, the walls and turrets being shredded where they stood. Valla brushed past him. "Stand clear."

Lucio obliged, as she held out her two crossbows at arm's length. The gate groaned, and with a crash it toppled. Valla squeezed her triggers.

Magic was unleashed. Hundreds of bolts shot out of the end of her bows in just a second, turning into a cone of arrows that turned everything in front of it into large pincushions. Lucio was impressed at first, but then the volley also exploded, making a further dent. Valla almost danced with her weapons, ceaselessly shooting into the oncoming zerg.

"Nice going!" He encouraged, lunging forwards and blowing back some stragglers.

Raynor cleaned up the ones that had made it through Valla's assault, as Valla jumped back with a neat flip, spinning her crossbows in her hands once. "Make it count, because I cannot do that often." She looked out into the no-man's land.

With his visor down, Raynor looked at a map of the battlefield. The upper and lower forts had taken a pounding, but the troops had seen off the attack for now. "Alright, they've still got way more units than we can handle, but I don't see any minerals around so they won't be replacing their losses. Lucio, come with me and we'll shore up the lower fort. Sonya, Arthas- you go to the top. Valla, Johanna- hold this position. We're gonna win by attrition, so don't take any unnecessary casualties."

Sonya slung her swords over her back, and ran off towards one lane. Arthas jogged behind her, while Lucio switched on his speed boost.

* * *

Stukov looked at them split up. Excellent news for him. He watched as the enemy travelled, and selected a target. The healer took priority as a target, as the only one with the ability to keep the rest standing.

'Benjamin, tell Dehaka to wait in the lower section of the battlefield. I will lure them back to the middle.'

'Yes. Sir.'

Stukov leaned on his table, and got up. Now was the time for him to act, as well. He walked outside, calmly triggering a rush in all three lanes, but diverting a chunk of extra power to the middle lane. That should force the healer to move back, at which point he'd be easy pickings...

He stepped past the many spine crawlers that formed a defence line, and very securely guarded his mind. Even Kerrigan wouldn't be able to read him now, unless she dedicated her full power to breaking through the mental barrier.

Which was going to be quite important.

* * *

"Hell, we got 'em! Good going, boys!" Raynor stepped back, as the Ultralisk finally dropped dead. It took dozens of heavy missiles to the face from the fort, and thousands of bullets to bring down something like that. Few other being could match it's raw durability, but it didn't have enough of a mind to guard its' weak spots.

Lucio looked at the fort. The front was completely ruined by that assault, and much more damage would disable the missile launcher. He moved a hand to his legs, brushing over a nasty scratch his armor had gained in that push. As his breath came back after the acrobatics he'd used, he had things to say. "What's the plan, man? We can't hold this place against much more."

"Looks like the others are still fighting." Raynor looked around. "We'll head and back up the mid lane. Troops, this fort's done for- but hang around here. If the zerg try and push, you run, okay? Otherwise, we'll push in instead."

"Roger!" The assortment of men around this fort seemed in good spirits for people who'd seen combat so intense- likely because their wounds were closing themselves automatically.

Raynor gestured into the distance. "C'mon, Lucio. Let's go."

"On it!" Lucio jumped forwards, and ran from the fort, into the section between the main lanes of Warhead Junction. There were many rusty buildings separating the lanes, all manner of garages, fuelling stations, and supply depots. Roads were linear, and simple- and in many sections, they had nasty potholes, and a few had clearly been hit with some kind of bomb. Vehicles were strewn around, all claimed by the merciless power of rust.

Lucio noted that Raynor seemed to know where he was going. The suit must have had some kind of map. Although he couldn't help but feel something...

They jogged up to what appeared to be some kind of parking lot. Two large machines that Lucio recognised as Hellbats used by Raynor's forces were standing there, rusted over. A steel door behind them had a dirty glass section, and a control panel.

They'd made it halfway across, when one seemed to move.

Neither of the two men going past missed that, and in a second Raynor had brought his gun up, pointing it at the one that had shifted ever so slightly. Lucio cut a wide arc around it, wary of the machine coming alive under an autopilot of some kind.

A slight creak cut through the distant hubbub of battle. One of the Hellbats swayed. Raynor made to move, trying to just get away before it could fall over.

It toppled, and with a huge crash sent a plume of dust up harmlessly around it. Raynor relaxed just a little, and lowered his gun. "C'mon, let's not waste any time freaking out at little-"

It happened fast. A tremendous gust of wind picked up the fallen machine like a ragdoll, and slammed it into a surprised Raynor, carrying across the parking lot and impacting a wall.

"Raynor?!" Yelled Lucio. He turned to run towards the pile of debris, and the two ways out of the area were suddenly closed, as piles of debris were shoved from the top of buildings by waiting zerg, piling up and blocking escape.

One figure walked out of the dust, hunched over, staring Lucio down. The DJ froze on the spot, like a deer in headlights. He had a sinking feeling that his 'gun' was going to be woefully ineffective here. The dust cleared around Dehaka, as he stopped a few steps from Lucio, poised to strike, but holding his attack.

Brightwing shakily flew over from where she'd gusted the mech into Raynor. She came to hover next to Dehaka, looking straight at Lucio. "...Friend. Brightwing... I am sorry. Could not think of way to help your friend. But Brightwing going to get you out alive!"

"You..." Lucio wanted to glance back, to be sure. But he couldn't tear his eyes off the threat right in front of him. "You killed him!"

"Brightwing could not think of way to avoid. But will save you! Um... Brightwing need to knock you out. I will pretend you are dead, yes?" She put her hands over her chest, trying to sell her plan to Lucio as quickly as possible. "Just do not move. Brightwing get you to safe place!"

Lucio shook his head. "You're crazy. I don't care about me!" He gestured back to the dented wall. "I care about Raynor! About Valla, Johanna! Others! Not me! How could you DO this, girl?" His voice cracked, as he looked around. There was no escape- and even if there was, Raynor might just be alive. He couldn't abandon Raynor. Not after all Raynor had done.

"Brightwing is sorry! But... Brightwing care about you! You are friend!" She moved forwards a bit, and was halted.

Lucio pointed his gun at her. It was a sound cannon, designed for riot control. Non-lethal. "Stay back! Look... we barely knew each other! I like friends as much as the next guy, but you're acting like you've got the right to decide my life! You might have just gotten all my actual friends killed, right here, with your attack- that's not something a friend does! You ain't no friend of mine!"

Brightwing made a choked sound. "...Does friend... are we... not..."

"Come on!" Shouted Lucio, tears and fury crossing his face. "Attack me! I... I'll go down fighting you, you dumbass, crazy zerg! For Raynor, and for everyone else you've killed for the hell of it!" Something sparked, deep inside him. A fervor that spread through his body like a wildfire, a fury that couldn't be denied. "Nobody deserved this fight! The things you've inflicted on them! Where's the justice, huh? You want to know why I won't abandon these people and just play dead for you?!" Lucio took a breath, aware that he was still within striking range of Dehaka. "Because they don't deserve more pain. They've all known enough. Enough suffering, enough fighting, and enough damn betrayals! The people here need justice! And they'll only get it if they win!"

The words... Lucio almost wondered if they weren't his. He was good at speeches, but he normally brought people up, not tore them down. He asked for justice, convinced people to give justive- he didn't take it by force. But he knew that here and now, it was do or die. Fight for survival. Time seemed to slow. Lucio became aware of Dehaka lunging, knocking the gun from his hands with ease on his first strike. He came around with the other arm, about to spear Lucio's heart...

And a light blossomed, whiting out Lucio's vision.

* * *

"Hail, mortal."

Lucio blinked. He was standing in a simple white stone chamber. "...That voice..." He looked around, and saw a suit of armour standing there. "Tyreal?!"

"Indeed. We've little time to speak, alas. This is all happening inside your mind, by my power." Tyreal walked forwards. In his hand was El'druin, and his wings spread out behind him, alight with holy energy.

"Did I die?"

"No. But you almost certainly would have without this intervention." Tyreal answered bluntly. "I have made a decision, mortal."

"I..." Lucio looked down. "What is it, Ty? I owe you my life twice now. I'm... really sorry I couldn't save you."

Tyreal held his sword out, with the blade pointing down. An elaborate leather scabbard appeared over it, and Tyreal released his grip. It floated in the air. "I grant you the divine right to wield El'druin." He said simply. "Grasp the blade, and I will offer you all the power I can bestow while I lack physical form. May it be enough for your good heart to carry out justice, Lucio."

"..." Lucio looked at the sword, and hesitated. "Am I really worthy? I... I was so angry down there... what if I judge someone wrongly?"

"A mortal heart may falter, but I know yours shall return to the truth. And you should know... El'druin is never wrong in it's judgements. It shall not take the life of the pure-hearted." Tyreal had no face, but a kindly smile was nearly visible in the darkness.

Lucio took a deep breath. "Thank you. I have no idea how to thank you enough."

"Take my sword and mete out justice until I return. That will be thanks enough."

"Alright. Here goes..." Lucio swallowed, and pushed all kinds of fear and confusion out of his head, reaching forwards and grasping the blade just like Varian had shown him.

As he touched it, golden flame consumed him. Lucio's eyes widened at watching his entire body seem to combust, before the blade itself shone in white, consuming all his vision...

* * *

Dehaka didn't know what had just happened, but his claw had bounced off a shining aura as if it were a bubble of titanium. Was this the invincibility Stukov had warned him about? But the descriptions didn't match at all...

The light was overwhelming. He turned his head to the left, and felt the eyes on the right burn to blindness in a mere second, before he could cover them. Brightwing dropped behind him, as the aura grew in size for another second, and then receded into the body of the terran... Dehaka blinked a few times as the eyes fixed themselves, spots clearing from his vision while he kept his guard up.

He saw the terran standing there, but now they were plated head to toe in white-gold armour. It seemed like that angel from before, but the design was wholly different. A set of golden chainmail sleekly covered his torso, with an ornate set of ivory plates over his chest and stomach. His legs still had the previous armour, but now it was white-gold and was plated neatly with an intricate set of wings, the lights on the bottom sparkling with an unknown power. His arms were covered by the chainmail, but adorned with gauntlets and a small white shield on each elbow. And a hood with a small metal hoop in the back let his hair flow out.

Lucio held his hand forwards, and flames appeared in the air, before condensing into a sword. He looked forwards. "Okay. Tyreal, watch me!"

Dehaka had little time to react. Lucio lunged and brought the blade down, while Dehaka blocked, and with some concern, he saw it bite into his claws. Quickly, he went to lash out with his tail and Lucio jumped back before charging forwards again, first matching Dehaka's strike and then slipping past with impossible mobility, dragging the tip of his blade across Dehaka's arm with impossible mobility.

"No! Do not fight each other!"

Lucio skated around at full speed, grinding on the floor before moving in like a slingshot. Dehaka could read the telegraphed move, but as Lucio got into range and he spat out his tongue, Lucio kicked away from the floor and easily soared over him- if Dehaka had shifted a split second later, he'd have had that sword buried in his head.

Lucio landed and spun once, launching a shockwave- Dehaka ducked underneath and started charging, but then Lucio drew a secondary weapon; his gun. Dehaka was blown off his feet, but landed smoothly, seeing Lucio run towards the mech.

"Dehaka, wait! Do not get hurt!"

Lucio stole a glance at the wreckage. Had there been movement below? Could Raynor have survived that hit? He placed a foot on the metal, and braced himself, aware of Dehaka's approach.

 _Just how Varian taught me..._

Lucio tensed, and sprung upwards, carrying his weight into the air and turning fast, gripping his sword firmly and placing his weight behind it. It came soaring down, and would have cleaved off an arm with ease... But Dehaka was tricky, diving into the ground like it were water, causing the swing to miss harmlessly.

Dehaka burst upwards, a shower of earth concealing his attack for a second, until his tail slammed into Lucio's midriff, sending him flying back into the machine. He pounced forwards, and Lucio parried both arms at once, golden energy crackling around his sword. Even with as much strength had been bestowed on Lucio, Dehaka was incredibly strong, doing what he could to crush Lucio into the floor. Then he reversed his pull, and threw Lucio behind himself.

Lucio impacted the floor hard, and the sword slipped from his grip. Dehaka was turning, advancing. He was catching his breath,, trying to get back up and pick up his weapon again...

A gunshot sounded. Dehaka stumbled forwards, and his attention snapped back to the rubble. Raynor was standing there, loading another penetrating round. He ran for the commander, showing a bleeding patch on his back, and was slugged right in the face. It ricocheted off, and slowed Dehaka's approach. He took two more steps forwards, as Raynor reloaded again, starting to get ready to move... Dehaka wasn't close enough to be a threat just yet.

But then Dehaka dropped to all fours, tail curved around. The spike shot out, a grey blob attached. "Isolation." Raynor made to dive to the side and was hit in the arm, and the grey goo spread out and set instantly, covering him. Dehaka made to move forwards and finish Raynor, when he was forced to turn and block, El'druin finally scoring a hit. It cut into Dehaka's palm, as Lucio skated back, dancing out of danger.

"Raynor, _run!_ I'll take this!" Lucio shouted, getting into an attack stance. The cut was almost shining, as a few drops of purple-black blood fell to the ground.

"K-kid..." Raynor managed to get out, through the binding grey gunge.

"GO!"

Lucio observed the area, and his opponent. Both of them were wary of the other now. Lucio knew he needed a plan in order to win. Even with his new power, he couldn't take Dehaka head-on. So how to do this..? The hellbats were out of order, and nowhere near fast enough to hurt Dehaka. The area was enclosed, so buying time for help wasn't going to work. And zerg were more likely to show up, anyway. His eyes fell upon a warehouse.

A plan sprung into being, fully formed. Lucio cautiously started skating around, trying to put the warehouse behind him. The door shutter had already been rolled up, showing a large set of stairs...

"Come on. You're not getting to Raynor without going through me."

"Friend, no! You will-"

Dehaka moved forward slowly at first, sizing up Lucio. And then he went on the offensive, his snarl drowning out Brightwing's protests.

Lucio was pressed back like he was standing against a river. Claws came at him from every angle, more than once they penetrated his guard and scratched his armour. But there was a fury inside him, raising his mind to the perfect state of determination and awareness. Ignoring any and all pain, and relentlessly blocking and counterattacking, Lucio steadily, carefully gave up ground. He saw Raynor had taken his request, and was hobbling away, trying to get the disabling gunge off.

Dehaka was fast and ferocious. He bit and slashed, and nearly managed to tear Lucio apart with every strike. If he could just get a grip in the sword with one hand and strike with another, it should all be over quickly! But no, he couldn't seem to grip that blade- it would cut through his hide, and was leaving grooves in his claws where he was parried. As hard as he tried to overwhelm Lucio, he could never get into a position where he could move and grab him with his tongue, and bite him in half. And his plating was tougher than steel! What damage he did get through just wasn't enough to slow down the enemy before him.

Truthfully, Dehaka was on the verge of abandoning the fight. He wasn't totally sure he could win. He wasn't sure winning would even be worth the effort, as he couldn't collect in this damnable nexus. But... this was Kerrigan's plan. He had to follow it as best as possible, and win this. It was the route to survival in the end.

They duelled, Lucio constantly backing off to provide himself with more room to swing his sword and to keep Dehaka out of range to some degree. But sooner or later he would reach a wall, and then he'd be forced to run. To Dehaka, that would be his chance. If he could get one good hit and pin Lucio down, then nothing short of a miracle would save him. Even better, it seemed he was pressing Lucio into the enclosed warehouse. Escape would be even more difficult.

" _Stop! Stop fighting!_ "

Lucio still felt energy surging through him as he danced with death. Dehaka swung from the side and Lucio lurched back, he jabbed and Lucio twisted to the side, he struck out and Lucio blocked. Keeping up the illusion of just being a desperate fighter he went on the offensive for a few strokes, moving El'druin with a flash and using his skates to keep his speed high as he spun and swung.

He glanced, and saw a set of stairs. With a small hop he jumped onto the first, and started climbing them backwards. Doing that in rollerskates alone would have been a perilous feat for most people without factoring in an ancient predator constantly assaulting you.

Each step was difficult, pushing Lucio's concentration to the max. He saw he had a hole in his guard, and his heart skipped a beat- he barely had time to tense before Dehaka finally got a solid blow. Lucio stumbled, catching the railing and hoisting himself back up, but a hot feeling of bruising was spreading through his ribs- with a cold dread behind it as Lucio realised it had outright broken. It felt just like a childhood injury. He grit his teeth and powered through the next five steps, ascended to a level a good ten metres above the floor now.

" _I do not want friends to hurt each other!"_

He made it another five before Dehaka got another blow in. The strategy required more dexterity than even the legendary skater could muster up. This time, Dehaka clawed Lucio's shin, cracking the golden plates and sending a painful jolt of force through his leg. Lucio went into full desperation mode, punching Dehaka with his empty hand even though it did nothing, but that got him just long enough to stab through Dehaka's arm, nearly losing the grip on his sword as he ripped it out, the hole managing to slow the rate of attack long enough for Lucio to take the three more steps he wanted.

Only two words came to Lucio's mind. "For justice!"

Quickdraw his gun. Thumb the dial on the back as far as it would go.

Hold up.

Fire.

Dehaka had no room to dodge, no floor to burrow through. The blast of force hit him directly, sending him tumbling down the stairs, gravity turning against him. Try as he might to stop, his own muscle mass was now contributing to his acceleration and momentum, and there were next to no ledges to grab, especially with a damaged arm. Perhaps he was tough enough to withstand the impacts of the stairs, and ground at the bottom...

Lucio jumped forwards, and grinded along the rails. It was a smooth downward slope, perfect for building up a ton of speed. He crouched, attaining as much balance and steadiness as he could. He gripped his sword and held it close to his chest, pointed forwards. He rocketed down, catching up to Dehaka just as his foe reached the floor.

" _No_!"

Dehaka managed to land on his feet, momentarily weakened and stumbling. He glanced around, trying to find his bearings, and saw a yellow flash. A burst of colours covered his vision, and something speared his chest, an explosion of burning power sledgehammering out from it.

Lucio had reached the bottom and thrust forwards, putting all his weight behind the jab. With his insane speed, that sword had the momentum of a small car focused into the tip. The strike had gone into Dehaka no problem... but in front of Dehaka, staring at her own chest in surprise, was Brightwing.

Lucio felt pain shoot through every limb, spots dancing in his eyes. That impact had been too hard, a near miracle he hadn't broken his arm. He blinked, registering that Brightwing had gotten in front of Dehaka. "W-what..." Whether it was the pain or the victory, the holy fury simmered down, leaving only a drained man. "Brightwing? I- Oh hell, I know I didn't want to come with you but-"

Brightwing put a hand on the sword's blade, gently. "I am... okay?"

Lucio shook his head, and looked closer. As the sword got to the point it should have impaled her, it evaporated into a golden mist, reforming behind her. Tyreal's words rang in his mind. "...It can't hurt the pure-hearted." He carefully pulled it back, wincing as his front felt the consequences of his attack. It slid through her like it wasn't even there.

"But Brightwing... humans do not like Brightwing, normally. Think I am creepy. Kill things- Oh no!" She turned quickly, to see Dehaka on the floor.

His skin was like a cracked window, fracture lines running out from a point of impact. Every line burned with golden energy, curving out over his whole form. He struggled to get up, dripping with his own blood, before almost collapsing, propped up on his one good arm.

"Dehaka, friend, it is okay! Will heal, now." Brightwing flashed with magic... but the lines didn't cease to glow. "...What is wrong?"

Lucio sat down, exhaustion setting in. "He's... I don't know. Guess he wasn't pure hearted, or whatever."

"But he is nice! Helped Brightwing! Offered to let you go!"

"..." Lucio sighed, and put El'druin back in the leather scabbard Tyreal had conjured. He felt like his whole body was on fire, and that broken rib was absolute agony now. He reached back, and turned on his music box, for his own relief. "I... I think I'm..." The word didn't want to come out, but Lucio forced it to. Nothing he hadn't dealt with before. "I'm... kinda gonna die. I think I broke something on the inside."

"Not you as well! Be healed!"

Unlike Dehaka, Lucio felt something tangibly different. Like a few things had put themselves back into place... but remained fragile, ready to fall apart again at any second.

Brightwing however, seemed to jump in realisation. "You are blocking healing! Take off block! Take off! Brightwing want to save both friends!"

"Block..?" Whispered Lucio. Even in his addled state, he managed to put two and two together. The golden energy... "I'll see what I can do. Don't let him attack me." With some effort, he managed to get to one knee, and shuffled forwards.

Dehaka was staring back, barely moving. The energy seemed to be burning at his very being, sapping his strength.

Lucio reached out, and placed a hand on the point he'd stabbed. It had a light to it, a magic the same as his sword. Both warm and harsh, proud and strong, burning and soothing. The light of justice judged this soul, and found it flawed. Not truly evil or good, but flawed. Driven solely by selfish needs to evolve and survive however possible, but devoid of malice and greed. Only a few scraps of empathy stirred within, and no mercy. And some small measure of something... protective. The capacity to bond with others, just about.

How could Lucio call off this judgement? He didn't even know what he'd done. Then again, he'd just managed to read the soul of a monster at a touch. It was a small confidence boost. "Uh... Look, I know we just fought to the death and all... not that I actually killed you, but... you know. I don't really want to kill anyone I don't have to."

"...like." Dehaka was quiet. Either the impaling, or the sheer amount of damage he'd taken. "Her..? No..."

"Friend, do not move! You are super hurt!"

Lucio took a steady breath. "I choose to spare you. If only out of respect for Brightwing there. So... will you let me go in peace?"

There were a few seconds, as the golden glows faded, leaving only a lattice of deep injuries. They weren't healing, a faint golden glittering on the raw flesh, but they weren't worsening, starting to scab over and prevent any further blood loss.

"...Not like her." Dehaka murmured. "Brightwing, is... strange, giving aid, without, expectation. But... she would, still, kill, any enemy. Eat, collect what she can. You..." He shook his head. "I, cannot understand. It is... beyond understanding. Go. I am... thankful, to live."

Lucio nodded. "You, uh... take care, okay? Those cuts still look pretty nasty. Might reopen if you're not careful." With some effort, he got to his feet. Every muscle in his body proceeded to scream curses at him as the fight caught up to him. He'd been planning to walk out into the dusty land in a dignified manner, but that was cut short with an "Ow! Ow, ow ouch".

"Aw, friend. Brightwing knew you were good friend! Brightwing will heal you." She paused for a few seconds, before blinking very close to Lucio, a wave of magic washing over him, clearing away his wounds like soothing water. Even if he was still feeling rough, it was a blessed relief after being so close to the brink of death. "Thank you, for not killing other friend."

Lucio sighed in relief, and a big smile found its' way onto his face. "Thanks. Here's hoping we can all get out of this alive, Bright." He took a second to stretch, and turned around.

He froze, and dropped a hand to his sword.

"Well." Said Stukov, with a set of armed soldiers behind him. "Wasn't that just... precious."

 **A/N: I've nothing to add here... am I doing a good job? Is the story interesting?**


	28. Chapter 28: Ulterior

"You know, going against orders is almost unheard of within the zerg." Stukov said, the men behind him keeping their guns trained on the three targets in front of them. "One would be forgiven for not anticipating it."

Dehaka's expert analysis of the situation was: Bad. All of them were too injured to fight off Stukov alone, forget about a squadron of his troops on top of him. Escape? He might be able to tunnel out, digging wasn't Stukov's forte... but truthfully, he'd likely be killed before he could get to a safe depth. Running through his options, bluffing was the only one. "...You, should, leave."

Stukov raised an eyebrow. "I think not. I have got eyes on all my enemies. I must say, Dehaka... Your betrayal was most unexpected. Perhaps she's had some influence on you?" Stukov nodded his head at Brightwing, who was hovering between the other two, prepared to try and cast something. Her only spell that would possibly be useful in this situation would be the wind nova, and the chances she'd be able to use it were low.

"You two, run. I'll hold him off; I still have a bone to pick with the zerg." Lucio put a hand on the handle of El'druin, wondering how many bullets his armour could stop.

Stukov held up his human hand, for silence. "Do not be afraid. I am here with my own motives." The three heroes in front of him stopped. Stukov looked between them. "Dehaka. As the only other zerg here with any measure of authority, you will listen to my demands and obey them. Or I will turn over the memories of what I just witnessed to Kerrigan. I have shielded my mind from her for the time being, so your little conversation currently remains between me, and your two... _friends."_

"...What, do you, want?"

"You three will come with me. I will give you some small sets of orders, and you are not to question them, or allow anyone to learn of them. Am I clear?"

Brightwing went forwards a little. "You... do not hurt Lucio!"

"I will say, childish thing, that if you value the life of Dehaka OR Lucio, you will keep your mouth shut."

"...Friend, what do we do?" She whispered. Everyone could hear.

Dehaka looked ahead. There was no escape from this. He needed to get back his strength before even considering a move, and that would take time... And it seemed he'd need to try and keep Lucio alive too now, if they were in this together. "Stukov. We, will follow. But... do not, make, mistakes. Kerrigan would kill, all of us."

"...Then come with me, all of you. Dehaka, you're to leave the battlefield. Take Brightwing and Lucio with you. Take Lucio to the brig of the Aleksander, place him in a cell, and stand guard. I will be watching."

Lucio bit his lip, as he walked along with the group, aches pinging through his body. He'd been given so much power, but right now it was useless- he felt a pawn, despite the might he'd been granted. Then again... maybe there was more at play here. Stukov's plans didn't seem like they were engineered entirely for the benefit of the swarm.

Stukov's forces branched off, leaving the three of them alone. "Uh... so, guys..?"

"Follow, Stukov's orders." Dehaka said, as he limped forwards at a fairly quick pace. "He is... tricky. When on board, ship... stay, close."

"...Brightwing sorry. Will still keep you safe, but I..." She flapped a few times, the usual glow on her dimmed a little. "I... do not know what to do."

"Guess we're a team now, then. Man, hope the others make it through this okay..."

* * *

Stukov needed to sit down. This wasn't a normal man's petty 'I need to sit because my legs are tired', this was a serious matter. The upcoming steps of his plan would need absolutely all the available brainpower he had, and standing did still use a tiny amount of his mind, controlling his balance.

He got to his forward base, at the heart of the three lanes, slammed the door open, and grabbed an office chair, quickly seating himself. "Ensure I am not disturbed."

Without even spending half a second to confirm his order was heard, Stukov closed his eyes and focused. Going out to bring Dehaka and company into his plan had been a necessary move, but now salvaging this battle and manipulating this to his ends was going to require all his intelligence.

Raynor's fight here was effectively doomed without his healer. But he had nukes and troops at his disposal, and if he took down too many of Stukov's forces then Stukov wouldn't be able to capture him.

How ironic, that the limitation of forced mercy would finally be removed, and the first thing he found himself doing was placing it back upon himself.

Aside from that, he had to keep his section of the hivemind closed tight, but still appear like it wasn't hiding anything. That was where most of his mind had been dedicated for the past few hours, and would remain.

Lastly, he had to clear out a few handfuls of rooms on the brig of his ship...

* * *

Twenty minutes had passed. Nukes had been expended, the mechanisms of the Junction working to create new ones. Raynor found his forces dwindling, falling lower and lower. They'd pushed in and gained ground, they'd been pushed back and lost ground. Hive and fort alike lay in ruins across the battlefield, strewn with the savage horrors of a prolonged battle.

Sonya struggled to stand, looking out at the massing forces. Hell itself was not so relentless...

"...Hm." Arthas stood straight, leaning Frostmourne on the ground. "It seems we are outmatched." He commented, in a tone that didn't sound at all outmatched.

"Nukes will be ready in three minutes." Called Valla, slipping a targeter into her pocket.

"...Hell. Everyone, fall back from that keep. Mass defences around the core!" Raynor shouted, the last pocket of his troops fleeing as an Ultralisk crushed the fort, Roaches swarming ahead of it to soften up the defenders for one last push.

Arthas picked up his sword, and twirled it into his hand weightlessly, ice freezing the ground around him. "Raynor. I will raise the dead against our enemy, once they have sent their final push against us. If we can encircle and destroy a large section of the enemy force here, then we may be able to push forwards and tear down the enemy base before they can muster anew."

Raynor blinked. "Is that even possible?!"

"We've little choice but to hope it is. We can't win without new units." Johanna kept her shield up, watching the roaches get closer to the final defence before the facility behind them, the core unit that controlled all the now-destroyed forts.

"I would place my trust in Arthas." Sonya advised, getting up once again, a hard look on her face. "We will have to assault them swiftly."

"Enough talk, here come the uglies!" Raynor started gunning, all too aware that he'd run out of ammunition soon.

Arthas clenched his empty hand, and raised it up into the air. The wind of the dusty world blew with an unnatural chill, one that sent a shiver through the rest of the team. And a blue light shone and sparkled, settling into diamond dust that never should have been, before coming alive with a terrifying power.

Corpses of zerg were almost burying the battleground. Many had been salvaged for biomass by Stukov, but many more had just enough of their skeletal structure intact for one last push. They rose up, that eerie blue glow spilling from their eyes and mouth, and charged.

Arthas drew his hand back with poise, and gripped Frostmourne. "Come forth, Army Of The Damned! Serve your king in death!"

Raynor looked at the advancing zerg wave visibly halt, and try to get into a defensive formation. Whoever was in control clearly knew what had just happened... but the tide had turned, dramatically so. With a cheer, he stepped forwards and got to work shooting, inspiring the rest of the team to get right in and help the rush of scourge crush the enemy forces.

It barely took thirty seconds, and the 'final push' was utterly dismantled. "Alright! Now we attack!" Raynor called, looking around at his team. Everyone was battered and bruised, but all standing tough. The counterattack started with a charge, one last chance to get to the heart of the enemy fortifications before they were inevitably overwhelmed. The reanimated wave of zerg hobbled along fervently, many of them with broken bodies.

Raynor couldn't lie to himself, Arthas' power was horrific. But right now, it was the only way to win. Sonya had been right to rely on him.

The first layer of hives had already been pushed down. They'd mostly been a sacrificial layer of defences intended to provide a good point for the many attack waves to mass at. The second layer was damaged, but they'd been repelled when they attacked earlier. Now, with barely a single zerg to defend them the one in the way was steamrolled.

The command centre was so close. Just within reach. Tearing it down would effectively equate to a win, unless Stukov was hiding somewhere on the battlefield. The zerg weren't even half as dangerous without a mind to lead them.

All five of them were battered, bruised, and needed healing ten minutes ago. They charged, Raynor doing everything he could to bolster their strength and inspire his troops, even as his tired state dulled his senses.

As five, they ran, and the floor gave way.

* * *

Stukov exhaled in relief. He was beyond needing oxygen, but sometimes the old human reflex would surface in him. Now to take care of the undead wave, before the walls came down around him.

Gunfire sounded as his personal guard engaged the enemy. This base had some defences, Stukov was confident that his men should be able to pick off the reanimated wave. Now it would just be a matter of binding them and taking them to the brig, and putting this facility to the torch.

He couldn't help but show a small, cynical smile. Of all the things to have defeated Raynor, the legendary Raynor himself who had bested the zerg at every turn, who could spot most traps a mile off, who had luck in spades, accuracy in aces, and a royal flush for leadership...

It was a pitfall. A tactic as old as the first tribes of humans, all those thousands of years ago. A big hole in the ground was all it took to finally subdue this legendary man.

Well, time to see how his little band of pawns was getting along in the brig, while he waited for his next batch of hydralisks to finish maturing.

* * *

"Hey Cassia." Lucio walked into the brig tiredly, the guards standing aside.

For the first time in almost thirsty hours, Cassia stopped struggling. She was beaded with sweat, and her wrists were raw from rubbing against whatever was binding her, as she took a few long breaths. "...An angel? I... should have known my limits. Eurgh, how foolish to die in a cell because I overexerted myself."

Lucio pulled his hood down. "Don't worry, you're still alive. It's me, Lucio."

"Lucio! I am glad to see a friendly face... but you must have been captured too." Cassia stared straight past him, at Dehaka. "Was it you?! It's one thing to assist in imprisoning an amazon, but now I'll kill you myself for touching someone like him!"

"Hey, calm down. We're... uh, not really on the same side, but kind of in the same situation. For now, he's with us. So's Brightwing by there."

"Hello!"

"...It seems you have some explaining to do. And where did you get that armour? I could swear it's the same design as a real angel."

"Long story, but I'll answer it all. Hey, do you know where Zarya is? I should let her know I'm okay for the moment." Lucio said, leaning back against the least disgusting section of the wall.

"Just around the corner. You're not being put in a cell like the rest of us?"

Lucio shook his head. "We were told to wait here... Hopefully I can get a chance to get you guys out."

"Should you really say that in front of- well, if you're really sure they're on our side." Cassia looked at Dehaka cautiously. "Go on, you should talk to Zarya."

Lucio walked around the corner, looking at the cells. Each one was a steel room, with multiple sets of bars across the front, sometimes reinforced with creep or other suspicious growths. A few were empty. He reached the far end of the small corridor.

"Hey there, lad! They got you too?"

Lucio jumped, and spun to see a dwarf sitting in his cell. "Muradin! You're okay too!"

"Of course! Dwarves don't die, we just get a bit closer to the ground." Muradin laughed, despite his situation. "Now, what's with the fancy gear?"

"I'll explain everything. I just want to find Zarya and make sure she's okay first."

"AYE! ZARYA!" Muradin shouted. "Behind you, kid."

Lucio turned to the last cell. Zarya was dishevelled, rising from what must have been sleep. "...Lucio? What are you doing here?"

"Whew, glad to see you, Zarya. All okay in there? I've got my tech if you need some healing."

"Go on. I could use some rejuvenation- if you find miss Cassia, then she was taken away fighting. She may be in even worse shape." Zarya got up, and walked over to the bars. "But how are you here? Loose, without guards? And you're not acting like you've been sneaking around."

"I'll explain now, but long story short, I got caught and I wasn't in any state to fight back, so I surrendered to try and help Brightwing get out of a bad spot because she did just save my life."

"...Hm. Good enough summary. So why don't you have any guards? Nor were you executed."

"I don't think we could fight our way out. When I got caught I'm pretty sure I was one solid punch away from dropping dead. And Stukov is apparently watching all of us right now, so... I don't really have any choice but to trust him. If I try to go anywhere without Dehaka, then he could probably just have his troops swarm me."

"Okay. Then what is the plan?" Zarya walked up to the bars. "I've been biding my time to try and find an escape, but no good. These are too strong."

Lucio shrugged, and drew El'druin. "I could try cutting them, but that'd probably set off an alarm. For now, let's play along with Stukov's plan. Whatever it is."

"...Very well. Since you're allowed to walk around, apparently- go and look for our weapons."

"Got it."

* * *

Dehaka made it over to a corner, and leaned on one arm, feeling the impact wound. The huge shatter-shaped scar across his front still refused to close. This wasn't the first time he'd taken a particularly bad injury- acids in particular could leave wounds that were hard to regenerate. But normally, he could easily recover more quickly by use of essence, the new form replacing the old in seconds.

Yet here, even as he collected, essence eluded him. An unknown curse of the nexus confined his form to the current one, and the best he could do to heal quickly was to eat things, break them down, and wait for his body to do the rest.

So now, here he was. Hungry, injured, and vulnerable. Picking a fight would require serious caution. He watched as Lucio came back, talking to Cassia, telling her all about the fight... he did what he could to track every possible threat in the room, planning out the best course of action for each and every one. Most plans boiled down to escape, due to his current circumstances.

Brightwing had been resting, just lying down on the floor a few steps away from him. Again, completely unguarded. She wasn't even out of the way of someone walking around the corner carelessly, she'd probably get kicked unless they were particularly alert. It was clear she was lingering on the edge of going to sleep. Strange, considering she hadn't even been doing much fighting.

"You should, move."

Brightwing opened her eyes, and lifted her head. "Hm? No-one is over by here..."

"They, would not, see you if they, came here. Might, walk into you."

"Oh." She moved herself across the small corridor, to the outer part of the corner, and then managed to halfway stand, looking up to Dehaka as she sat next to him. "Better? ...Was friend lonely?"

"No." His answer was completely serious.

"...You have not healed, friend. What is wrong?"

"I do not, know. Your, magic, cannot help?"

"No..."

"It may be, because I have, consumed my reserves of essence." Dehaka commented, quietly. It was one thing to discuss your vulnerability with someone trusted, another to announce it. Trusted? _I believe I can trust her, after that fight... but I must be careful not to put her in situations where she's forced to choose between me and another 'friend'. That is the only time when I cannot trust her._

"You are hungry?"

Dehaka nodded. "I, can live without food, for some time. If I could, change... use essence, like I always have... I could heal. But here, I cannot. I will, wait."

"Friend should not wait. Danger might happen soon. I was sleeping to get more ready."

"...Hunting safely, like this, would leave you for too long. I will wait."

A short while passed, as they sat there, patiently observing what they could of the small U-shaped room.

"Brightwing changed, when got turned into zerg. So did bad demon. Why friend cannot change?" She said, after a while.

"...I, do not know."

"Brightwing knows."

 _How? She must be wrong, there's no way she worked this out when Stukov couldn't. Kerrigan couldn't!_ "What?" A glimmer of hope came into his rough voice, regardless.

"Brightwing sort of... feel it. When Brightwing got changed, Brightwing wanted to change. Wanted to live, because I had a stabby hole in my back. And... think nasty demon too, because you ate his face. He was dying. Wanted to live. And, Brightwing think your weird green pool thing wanted to change us."

"Spawning pool. Primal version, converts to zerg, if the organism, can withstand the microbial attack. Control microbes with mind, and survive, if will, strong enough. If, you cannot, it will, break you down."

"...Brightwing not understand any of that. Brightwing just think... if Brightwing wanted to let friend change, and friend wanted to change too... maybe it will work?"

 _...If this is the actual rule, then that's the single most awkward restriction I've ever faced. Needing prey to actually 'let' me use their essence, regardless of whether or not I've eaten them._ "It seems, unlikely... But, I will try." A second part of that theory clicked with him, considering that Brightwing had just offered... "Your essence... why are you offering it? You will not, gain anything."

"Brightwing might be hurt, but-"

"No. I will, only take, one bite. That is, all, I need, to change. Quantity, is only for, regrowth." _She's literally willing to die?! What kind of... is something wrong with her? I can't understand. Every action she takes, I understand her less. But I at least know she's trying to help me. Enough that I should protect her as if she's my own body, considering how much of an asset she is._ The confusion ran deep, but resolved itself in a few moments. Regardless of her motives, it was a chance he couldn't pass up. With her healing... a single bite ought to heal itself in just a minute or two. He could protect her.

"Okay. Um... where are you... going to bite?" She said nervously, her own words seeming to hit her. "Oh! Friend, bite tail. Tail will grow back, Brightwing has seen that."

Dehaka nodded.

* * *

Lucio had overheard the conversation, and not really understood a lot of it, but he managed to understand two things. First, he shouldn't look to the side unless he wanted to see something very graphic. Second, there was almost certainly a joke hidden somewhere about eating ass, and damn if he wasn't going to find it in his spare time.

 _Don't look. Don't do it, Lucio. You made it this far in life without being permanently mentally scarr_ _ed._ His head did everything it could to try and distract from what he was 90% was about to happen, but the 10% uncertainty was incredibly hard to ignore. He found himself slowly looking over. _What are you doing, you're just going to see something disgusting at best._

He watched for five seconds, and then became extremely deeply uncomfortable as both of them looked him straight in the eyes.

"I'll just... give you two some privacy."

He slipped around the corner, ignoring the perplexed look on Cassia's face. Zarya was doing warm-up moves, getting ready for a potential jailbreak. Muradin was sitting on the cleaner half of a bench in his cell.

He wasn't really sure what conversation to make, but he did know that he heard some heavy, swift footsteps and the door to the brig opening and closing.

"Uh, all okay back there?" He called.

"Brightwing okay!" Echoed the voice. "Friend went to get food."

* * *

Mira was just sitting in the bridge. The finishing touches on the cannon were being put into place. The plan was coming together, at long last.

But now... She looked at the singularity. It didn't feel quite right... She looked out of the window, as a pipeline was connected. Shortly, a huge quantity of liquidised vespene would be pumped in from the Hyperion's refineries, and the gun would become operational. They had enough for four shots, per Swann's calculations, so providing the leviathans couldn't react AND dodge at the speed of light, this should be checkmate.

"Matt." She said, simply. "Are we ready?"

"Ten minutes to fully load it." Matthew answered easily. "I was just going to go and take those messages we agreed to for Varian, if you'd go and get the portal open for us?"

"Oh, of course." It all didn't quite feel real. Kerrigan had never gone down easily, in most cases she came out decidedly on top. Evil zerg, perhaps- but she was unquestionably a devious leader. Could she somehow do something about this cannon? Even now? "Matt, if we win... want to go on holiday somewhere?"

"...There'd still be a lot to do, even if we beat Kerrigan. For starters, what about that realm where you pulled all the heroes from. Deciding whether or not we intervene to help would be tricky at best."

"Hm. Another realm, full of magic, mercs and ale. Sounds close enough to a holiday for me!"

"Sounds like tuesday, if you swap the magic for psionics."

Mira chuckled, and walked out of the room, heading down to the bar where the alliance would be waiting, maybe alongside some other patrons.

* * *

Stukov watched the facility. It was crumbling under his attacks, the concrete turning to dust and the machinery to scrap. By now, his men should have taken the captured enemies through warpspace, to his ship... and so, he knew it was time to begin the next step of his plan.

'Benjamin, relay best-case orders to Dehaka.'

'Yes, vice-admiral...'

Stukov smirked. Oh, this was going to be too good. Knowing your actions were cosmically irrelevant was... deeply relieving, to say the least. It almost made the pain of infestation go away, as glee roiled around inside him briefly, before his quashed it. There would be time for that later- now, he had the most delicate steps of the plan. His psyche would have to be as normal as breathing... not that the zerg needed to breathe.

First, he linked his mind to the Overlord Raynor was inside. They normally weren't bred with this functionality, but making one with a voicebox wasn't too hard.

"Okay, can everyone hear me?"

"What the f-"

"Stukov speaking. Be silent." He considered his words for a moment. Should have planned those out, but he was preoccupied with everything else. "Do exactly as I say, and you might get out of this alive. Raynor, get the visor out of your suit. I'll need something to show Kerrigan, to prove you're dead."

"Stukov, what are you doing..?" Raynor murmured. "You're defecting?"

"I think 'utterly betraying' might be more accurate." Stukov attempted to come across as humorous, although that got bogged down by normal self. "Now, when I release you all into the hangar, you need to hide. The floor panel to the left of the door will come up if you stamp the right corner of it."

"...Got it..?"

"In a few minutes, you'll have some more friends. Get them under the floor too. Then just hold on and wait, because I can't be sure how long it'll take to pull off my final step. Whatever you do, do NOT allow any detectable energy to build up, or we're all dead. Do you understand?"

"I think so. Where do I leave this visor?"

"The floor. Anywhere will do." Stukov tapped out of that mental conversation, and steeled himself one more time. This was the most important conversation of them all, now. He very carefully joined a conversation with Kerrigan, his facade impenetrable. Short of utterly breaking down his whole consciousness with her powers, she would never find what he'd done.

Her voice came through shortly. "Stukov. Your report?"

"The facility is destroyed, although we are still dismantling the last of the machinery. I recommend you strike now, in case one of the defenders had a distress beacon of some kind." Stukov said, acting flawless.

"Excellent. I'll raze them to the ground..." Kerrigan's mind receded from the conversation, even though Stukov could still feel it's presence now.

His plans were all falling into place once again. As long as Dehaka came through, then things should be just as he desired...

* * *

Mira had a tiny portal open, feeding through the letters Varian had written. Varian was chatting with Uther, while Jaina sat back. Thrall was over by the bar, and she spared him a glance, as if to make sure he wasn't somehow reading closed, pre-written letters. Gazlowe attended the warchief as always, fiddling with some kind of gearbox on the counter, grease over his fingers.

With the jukebox trundling away, and Matt enjoying a water break from his normal job running the whole ship, it was a wonderfully calm and wholesome atmosphere.

She hated that. Calm and wholesome places had an annoying tendency to either conceal an assassin, or worse it was set up by a particularly pig-headed bureaucrat, in hopes of impressing the poor, filthy mercenary he expected would throw down her life for a few credits. At the same time... this was kind of nice. Just add some idiot in the corner juggling knives or something, so there was tangible danger, and she'd have been right at home.

"Okay, mail delivered." Mira finished. "Although really, we're almost done in this place. You should be back home tomorrow."

"At last." Varian smiled. "Can't just run around and leave my people unattended forever. Though, what about Muradin?"

"With any luck, you'll see him tonight, sweetie." Mira got up, and stretched... then tensed. Her singularity was burning, screaming danger-

"Mira?" Matthew lowered the little plastic water cup he'd been drinking from.

Mira held a hand up to the air to on obvious effect, and would have looked outright comical if not for the huge, resounding explosion that shook the room hard enough to knock Gazlowe over. "We're being fired on! I... I can't block another shot like that!"

"Oh, _shit."_ Matthew threw the cup aside. Matthew Horner was the kind of person who the marines might make jokes about being incapable of swearing. When he dropped the s-bomb, it actually hit like a bomb. "Okay, I know what to do. I'll get to the bridge and fire the cannon, it should have at least one shot ready by now- that will buy us some time! Mira, you get everyone that you can out!" He sprinted out of the room faster than anyone in uniform should be able to, before Mira could say another word to stop him.

"MATT! You can't sacrifice yourself, you moron! MATTHEW! MATTHEW, I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU THROW YOURSELF AWAY LIKE THIS! MATT!" He was already gone, the words halted by the metal of the walls.

"Everyone, get ready to move!" Varian took command, the least shaken. "Mira, you'd best listen to your man, or everyone here is dead."

"...I know what I have to do. Everyone, over here. Step out of line and I'll shoot you myself." Mira kicked a table across the room, clearing a space.

Varian, Thrall, Jaina, Uther and Gazlowe lined up around her, as she opened a portal. "We've got one chance to save everyone before Kerrigan blasts us, so damn it, that what we're doing! All in! Now!" She jumped through, shortly followed by the heroes around her...

 **A/N: Two more chapters. That's what I expect from this. Stukov's revealed his hand, and the endgame is all coming to a head. Drama abounds!**

 **TJtrack99: You are indeed correct! I was dropping hints for a short while, but always worried they were a bit too vague. And Lucio is now incredibly OP. If this were a playable campaign, he would be THE character of choice for the last levels. I'd buff up all his numbers, and give him all of Tyreal's abilities on top of his old ones. Ranged attacks that are sword beams, because why not. He's got the power of god and anime on his side.**


	29. Chapter 29: Peak

The messenger infested shuffled along the corridor like a zombie, a mutation on their leg unbalancing them. Although they were fast, and that was all that mattered, regardless of how they stumbled. They hobbled their way to the brig, just in time to find the recipient of their message returning to the room too... With half a zergling clamped in his jaws.

"Commander... Deha-ka... A message from Vice-Admiral... Stukov..." The messenger wheezed, slowly but clearly.

"Yes..?" Somehow, Dehaka's speech wasn't impeded (further) by carrying something in his mouth, even if the sound was a bit muffled.

"Your orders... listen... closely..." The messenger seemed to jump slightly. "And... Stukov says, you shouldn't... leave prisoners unguarded."

Dehaka tilted his head. Everyone in that room had no way out, that he was sure of. Half of them were practically allies by circumstance, given the trouble he'd landed in by not killing Lucio. Regardless, he listened intently.

"Stage... a fight... make it look... like the prisoners broke out, and you devoured them, if Kerrigan were to check the room... then, escort them to the... hangar. And go back to your, ship, and wait for more orders."

"..." Difficult orders. If only because he was fairly sure most of them wanted to do a lot more than stage a fight. How to set up a convincing scene, too? "Yes... I will, obey. You, stay near, pass on messages?"

The infested gave a stiff, singular shake of the head. "Kerrigan could see you... Good luck... sir." They coughed, and turned away.

Dehaka went into the room. Lucio was sitting against a wall, as something around his waist emitted a series of sounds. Dehaka couldn't find meaning in them... although strangely, he did feel a little more vitalised, even after Brightwing had restored his health with her crazy, yet completely effective plan.

He tossed his head, flinging the hindquarters of the zergling over to her. "Eat. Restore, lost flesh."

"Oooh, meat... Shame Brightwing cannot bite off head, but very thanks!"

Dehaka didn't know how he felt about her, but he knew that he felt good about her. Gratitude was largely a foreign concept, after all. But she'd healed him and even granted him some small measure of change, as the slight modification to his chest skin proved. Now... "We have, orders. All, listen." Dehaka looked around the room.

Cassia was fully alert as always, and had a faint ozone smell, as if charging another blast of lightning. Hopefully not while he was explaining. Lucio got to his feet, and pulled back his hood a bit. If he was scared, he wasn't showing it. The others were kept around the corner, so hopefully they could hear him...

"We, must, fake a battle. Trick Kerrigan, into thinking, you have been, devoured..." Started Dehaka, as he went on to lay out the plan to the others in the brig.

* * *

Mira's feet touched the ground, as it squashed ever so slightly. The dank smell of the zerg permeated the recycled air, and light came from various luminescent patches on the walls. Her impromptu squad of warriors touched down behind her after just a moment, looking around in moderate horror, before steeling themselves. They were the best of the Horde and Alliance, and they'd faced worse at the hands of each other than the zerg could ever do.

"Are you sure this is wise?!" Jaina gripped her staff, looking around quickly. "Six people may not be able to fight through their entire force!"

"We're no normal people, Jaina." Thrall kept his hammer poised. "I take it your plan is to slay the leader, to prevent a second strike killing everyone down there?"

"Spot on." Mira pumped her shotgun. "Now let's run like hell, because if Matt dies my last act in this life will be to kill all of you slowly. And that's a crappy way to go out."

Zerglings rounded the first corner, but as flimsy shock troops, they didn't accomplish anything in the remaining two seconds of life they had. Leviathans had a complex internal layout of hundreds of corridors and chambers, and Mira had consciously aimed for a smaller corridor- it would help choke the enemy forces, allowing her to face them at a more manageable rate.

She really didn't want to think about what would happen if she were given five seconds to gun down an Ultralisk, too. So with any luck, the smaller corridors could take them directly to where they needed to go.

"Alright, I sense Kerrigan's singularity that way. Varian, you've got a shield- take the front."

They pushed in.

* * *

Kerrigan was charging up her next death ray. The deflection of the first one had been seriously unexpected, but she'd felt Mira's powers weaken deeply, and another one ought to smash through no problem.

Especially now that Mira was apparently going completely insane, and coming up here to fight her personally. Didn't she realise she was leaving her base unprotected? There was no way she'd be able to reach this place before a second laser burned Deadman's Port into the ground.

Energy started to build to a critical level, as Kerrigan focused. She could create an energy beam whenever she wanted, even without a singularity. But doing that indoors, on her own ship, was normally not on the agenda. And it normally came at a significant energy cost, and in general wasn't very practical compared to either stabbing or using her powers as a tesla coil.

The singularity neatly wiped away all those weaknesses. While she hadn't mastered its' art of lasers, she understood enough to create the beam a good ten metres away from her, and it wouldn't drain her energy reserves away. The focal point for the power started to glow with raw energy, ready to rain down upon the land below. Braxis was now deep under zerg control, and its' strength was Kerrigan's.

But just a few seconds before she could fire, a shock ran through the hivemind. The sensation of thousands of nervous systems suddenly frying, bodies blown to bits, even a whole Leviathan taking a deep, deep wound. Her beam's channel dissipated, the unexpected damage having thrown off Kerrigan's concentration. What had just happened?!

As she looked into things with her mind, it became clear that something had shot Abathur's Leviathan. It wasn't beyond saving, but it was out of action for sure. A single laser shot had pierced all the way through, scorching it and destroying whole sections.

'Abathur, pull back! Do you know where the shot came from?'

'Shot originated from planet surface. Recommend immediate counterattack.' Abathur had few words to put out, quietly moving away before the leviathan could die of the injury.

 _What kind of weapon would be powerful enough to do that?! No matter... I just need one more shot._ Kerrigan reached out, and commandeered Zagara's leviathan. It was the only one she could lose, since Zagara was planetside. It moved to cover her ship, as she restarted the process of charging up another beam...

* * *

Matthew looked up at the sky. He'd sounded the alarm, and the second everyone had been inside the ship, he'd ordered Swann to fire. Even he didn't know how close they'd come to being instantly obliterated.

The cannon was locking onto the next target now. It's aim had to be incredibly precise, to remain on-target as the beam travelled up into space.

"Adjutant, how long do we have before we can warp out?"

"Liftoff not advised while in the vicinity of orbital weapon. The shockwave has a force of around fifty standard combat nuclear weapons, and will knock Hyperion out of the air." Replied the robot.

"Alright. Raise our shields, and fire as soon as you have the next target locked!"

A few seconds passed. Matt scrambled between screens, trying to piece together everything that was happening. One leviathan was moving to cover another. One was pulling back. The other two weren't moving. On the Hyperion, the flight systems were warming up, main generator going through various boot processes. The lower levels were full of confused people

With a tremendous blast, the cannon fired again. Matthew had to grab a desk for support, as the whole ship felt like it was punched. Sensors confirmed a direct hit on the Leviathan that was isolated from the central cluster, but Matt instantly knew that the computer had picked the wrong target. Whatever was being covered was almost certainly the priority target, and even if it wasn't it was a chance to hit two with one shot.

"Adjutant, tell Swann to make sure the next shot targets the one being covered!"

A few minutes passed, as people made it to rooms inside the ship, and the generator got ready for a liftoff.

He held on tight, and once again, the cannon fired. This beam punched straight through two of the leviathans that were so conveniently lined up, going on into space. Matt was about to go back to the screens and start the process of lifting off, so they could try and escape. They'd have to make do without the fourth shot that hadn't loaded yet.

The sound of stone crashing drew his attention briefly. Mira's tower was collapsing. Matthew internally shrugged, it had probably been the shockwave from the anti-orbital cannon. She wouldn't be mad, it was doomed anyway. Her receptionist had even managed the mad dash from the tower to the Hyperion.

There was a flickering, and Matt could have sworn the colour of the sky just changed...

He had to keep himself from screaming when he remembered the Psidestroyer was kept in the tower's basement.

* * *

Mira was pushing through the ship as fast as she could when the first of Matthew's shots hit. It was a noticeable jolt, even when inside an entirely different Leviathan.

"Was was that?" Uther blocked a Hydralisk's spine, ducking as a few more stuck in his armour a little.

"It wasn't a footstep. Some kind of explosion." Varian said quickly, bashing a few enemies with his shield, and then lunging out with his sword. "Thrall. Any idea what that was?"

The leader of the horde almsot made to ignore Varian, but the situation won over him quite quickly. "The element suggest a concentrated energy attack... Mira. It was probably your cannon." He held up his hammer, and chain lightning blasted a fair number of targets.

As they pushed onwards yet more desperately, Mira felt another blast reverbrate. This one was closer, enough to shake the floor. "Matthew... dammit, he better not shoot us while we're up here."

"We hardly had the time to make a cohesive plan." Jaina's fighting seemed... unusual. Almost off, although nobody was complaining. Instead of staying as safe as she could and using spells for crowd control and disruption that would make foes into easier targets for Varian and Thrall, she was fighting on the frontline with some impressive acrobatics, swinging her weapon like a quarterstaff, weaving in blasts of frost. It was strangely vicious, bloodthirsty even.

And something about the ice she summoned didn't seem quite right too, although Thrall couldn't quite identify it. Was it the colour, or the magic behind it that just seemed a bit... suspicious?

Gazlowe hit some buttons on his mecha, and a few bombs were liberally dropped behind them. A few loud blasts sounded as they ran, hopefully buying a little extra time. It was intense, a neverending struggle to push forwards. Even if they only moved for a minute and a half longer, it felt like eternity itself.

They came into a large, round chamber. It appeared to be empty, with a smooth floor that was noticeably harder than the rest of the passageways through the leviathan. The walls seemed reinforced, with no obvious weak spot.

"I feel it. Kerrigan is in the next room." Mira announced, walking forwards slowly. "Are you all ready? Because we don't have long before the rest of the ship catches-"

The door they'd come through closed tight.

"-Us? Okay, I'll take what I'm given." Mira shrugged. "But don't think I'll go easy on you for closing the door, Kerrigan!"

"I hate to break it to ya, but I think that was to trap us in here. Like rats." Gazlowe would have put a condescending hand on Mira's shoulder, but couldn't reach, and put it on her hip. Mira swiftly kicked his arm.

"Never mind that. We have no time, so let's get through!" Varian encouraged.

"Mrgl."

"Hm? Did one of you just hear a..." Uther started.

There was a small thud, as a single young murloc fell from the ceiling. It hit the floor face-first, before almost comically getting up and looking at the group.

"..." There was a collective second of confused silence in the group. Broken by Gazlowe bursting out laughing.

"A murloc! A baby murloc's her last line of defence!" He doubled over. "Oh, oh my word, hahahaha!" He drew to a chuckling halt, and clicked a button on his mech suit. The hands folded in, a set of bodyarmour folded over Gazlowe, and two sawblades came out to replace the hands with a thunk. A tinny recording of Gazlowe's voice played as the small transformation completed. 'Manual combat mode activated- Robo Goblin Mode online!'.

The two sawblades whirred to life. "I'll get him. You guys go on." Gazlowe walked forwards, grinning. The murloc stayed still, looking at him with narrowed eyes. Gazlowe got in close, gave his right sawblade a theatrical revving, before winding up the arm for one good hit. _It should be a nice test for all my new mods!_ He swung it down, straight for Murky's head.

 _Clonk._ Gazlowe blinked. 'Clonk' was not the sound a sawblade made on contact with bare flesh. He'd been looking at Murky's eyes, and shifted his gaze to see what had happened.

The murloc was holding up his right hand, holding the sawblade still as the motor wheezed and tried to turn. Not even a scratch on his tiny little hand. He'd caught it mid-swing, with a firmness like stone. Gazlowe noticed it wasn't even with his dominant hand, the left one holding... a fish. He would have laughed again if not for the fact this murloc had just caught a whirling blade. "Well, okay. I'll just-"

"Mrlrlrlrl!"

Gazlowe didn't know what was happening. Only that somehow, some force picked him off the floor like he weighed nothing, and then slammed him back down. He was thrown over Murky's head like a giant was suplexing him, then thrown back, his mech smashing and denting to pieces as his world spun. Then one hard blow almost crushed him into the floor, controls falling from his dazed grip, mecha breaking apart.

Gazlowe blinked, and then the murloc grabbed his throat. It was like a bear trap closing, as his daze was replaced by a panicked scrabble to get the tiny hands off his windpipe.

"Mrgl."

The last Gazlowe knew was being tossed across the room like a frisbee, and hitting the wall.

Everyone else looked on in horror, bringing up thier weapons. Mira gave her shotgun a quick pump, and blasted it at the small murloc. At point blank, a shotgun blast is among the most reliable ways to instantly kill something soft. And true to experience, it blasted through Murky without much resistance.

Murky started walking forwards, the shotgun blast receding. Where flesh had been torn away and bones broken, new cells replaced it all in mere seconds.

Mira shot him again. And again. The blasts regenerated in mere moments. "Don't just stand there gawking, ATTACK!"

"We need to be cautious..." Thrall spun his hammer in his hand once, flexing. He thrust it forwards, and hit the murloc with a blast of lightning. The smell of charred fish filled the air, but Murky kept going forwards.

"Alliance, strike on my mark!" Varian instructed, gripping his replacement sword as hard as he could, tensing up. Without Shalamayne, he could still fight well, but right now a legendary weapon would have been a great help. "One! Two! Three!"

Varian lunged out and skewered Murky, carving up and out. Uther dropped a hammer of justice, and Jaina blasted him with frost, before Varian came down with the sharp point on the bottom of his shield.

Again, it was to almost no effect. "Why won't it die?!"

"Rglrglrglrr!"

Varian shifted his shield up, and it crumpled like tinfoil, a huge crater left in the front. He went in to duel, slicing and swinging, bashing with his shield- Murky seemed to either block or simply absorb every hit, before slime blasted from somewhere, corroding Varian's gear before his eyes. He stumbled back, and threw aside the ruined shield.

Thrall went in to cover Varian, and got one blow in before he was hit in the leg, and went stumbling back.

Jaina held out a hand, and a torrent of ice pushed back against Murky, slowing his advance. "We all need to hit it together." She said calmly, as her staff glowed. "It's healing outpaces anything one of us can do."

"Alright. Uther, Mira... Thrall. Spread out and encircle it!" Varian called, switching to a two-handed grip on his sword. He moved around the side as fast as he could, the rest of the group getting into position quickly. "ONE! TWO! THREE!"

Uther and Varian jumped in in unison, swinging down hard and using the momentum to get out of the way for Thrall to blast it with flame and stone, Jaina opposing him with ice and water, before Mira unloaded the rest of her clip.

It staggered for a second, and Jaina lunged in. Her grip on her staff was iron, and she drove the point of the crystal into the murloc. Stepping forwards and driving it in, she started to speak a spell, and the gem lit up with a shining arcane light. Frost spread from the stab wound, then with a deafening SNAP, the target shattered into pieces.

The shards didn't seem to move.

"Wow. Never knew you had that in you." Thrall looked at Jaina, as she spun her staff back to a normal holding position for a spellcaster.

"We'll discuss my amazing talent for violence later." Jaina said distastefully. "Right now we need to go and stop Kerrigan!"

"Right!" Mira made to walk across the room, and reached the other side, before halting. "Did... someone just hear something crack?"

She looked back to see an exact copy of the murloc fall from the ceiling. It hit the floor, and started purposefully walking towards Mira. The group behind her recoiled in horror for a moment, and ran forwards. Mira frantically grabbed her gun, feearing it wouldn't be enough.

"Mira! Look out!" Varian charged forwards.

Murky turned and swung at him, and Varian went flying, landing a good four or five metres back, one shoulderpad shattered into fragments of metal. "Mrgl!"

Murky resumed his walk towards Mira, who shot at him in panic. Jaina and Uther had picked up Varian, and Thrall was out of reach, having gone to see if Gazlowe was alive. "No. No no, no, NOOO! Get back!" Mira stumbled away, unsure she'd survive even a single hit from this raging thing.

She hit the wall with her back, and kept shooting to no effect. Jaina went in again to try and pull the murloc away, and was backhanded. Even when she blocked with her staff, it sent her flying. Mira could swear the tiny fist was left smoking, as it drew back. It would be a direct punch. She couldn't hope to dodge at this range.

Everything seemed to white out. A single huge explosion that flattened Mira against the wall, and felt like her body was being scoured from existence. For four long seconds, she could only see white, and feel the Singularity buzzing. When her eyes recovered, she looked to see the entire middle of the room gone. A huge hole piercing through, going on into space in both directions.

No sign of the murloc.

She realised what had happened with a grin. "Matthew, you absolute _sniper._ "

"Are you okay, Mira?" Called Varian.

"Just fine. Apparently being in the general vicinity of plasma is covered by the whole 'environmental protection' thing I can do." Mira shouted. She couldn't think of any other way she'd have survived being so close to that shot. Let alone the others.

"Well, it looks like there's still gravity here..." Jaina noted. "We can't cross this room!"

"That's fine. Kerrigan should be alone. I'll take her down. You four, get to safety!" Mira shouted.

"...Understood." Thrall looked down the hole. "Gazlowe, he-"

"Come on, Thrall. We must go." Jaina pulled him away from the extreme fall, and towards the exit. "Mira, we're counting on you."

Mira nodded, and turned around to look at the door to Kerrigan's control room. _Great, fight Kerrigan with n_ _o backup, the fate of everyone you know resting on your shoulders, and no second chances. No pressure._

* * *

Stukov watched event unfold calmly. If one of those lasers had targeted the Aleksander, then there wouldn't have been much he could do about it. As it was, then Mira was about to fight Kerrigan- where she would almost certainly be crushed with her failing singularity, and the barrier had gone down around Deadman's Port.

Zagara would barely need three minutes to have the whole area overrun. She'd been massing zerg around the perimeter for weeks.

Stukov considered things for a moment. On one hand, saving those people would be monumentally difficult. And none of them had any special importance to Kerrigan, so making them remember her for what she did wasn't going to be worth anything special.

But at the same time, they all had less than stellar opinions of his dear queen. It wouldn't hurt his little revenge scheme to have them circulating around.

So, how to save them? Simple.

'Zagara.'

'I listen.'

'I want you to capture as many as you can alive. I wish to examine their abilities myself, since this 'Nexus' is preventing normal assimilation. I trust you have enough units to engage them in a suitable manner?'

'I will grant your request. But I will expect all the knowledge you glean.'

'Naturally. For the swarm.'

'For The Swarm!'

Stukov let his mind recede from that conversation. Sometimes, it was as simple as asking. Now to just keep an eye on Dehaka, in case he got any ideas.

* * *

As it turned out, staging a fight hadn't been too hard.

Dehaka rubbed a stab wound on his shoulder a bit, as he reconstituted. The burnt smell of lightning lingered, however. Cassia looked at the broken spear on the floor with something between sadness and satisfaction. Brightwing leaned over his shoulder and checked the lock of hair Lucio had cut off himself was firmly stuck in his teeth.

Zarya fired a few particle blasts at one wall. Muradin swung his hammer around until he dented something.

"Friend think it will trick Kerrigan?"

"She, should not, see this herself. Just, a convincing, picture." Dehaka looked around the room. "...I will, pretend you have all been, consumed. Your essence, collected."

"Alright. We're all officially dead now, nice. What's the next step in whatever's going on?" Muradin said with a fair amount of cheer. Having his weapons back was a significant comfort.

"Friends, we will guide you to a safe place. Be very secret, okay?" Brightwing looked around happily. "If anyone does thing that put friends in danger, I will tear out your neck." She added sweetly.

"Okay, okay, I'll save the party for later." Lucio joked back. Considering how serious the situation was, everyone remained in good spirits thanks to him. "Lead the way."

"Come. Stay, close. The zerg here, are Stukov's." Dehaka explained. "Should not attack, but, complacency, ends survival." He made for the door, everyone else following him closely. Truthfully, too closely for his tastes, although he had options if he were attacked from behind. Dark Swarm to soften them, then play for time to either escape or snatch a kill.

So they made their way through the ship together, to the hangar. It wasn't a particularly long walk, but ten minutes seemed like an eternity when the environment screamed danger, and when they encountered more than one group of infested terrans or other zerg, which quickly got out of the way.

"Hey, friend." Brightwing dropped back a bit, flying beside Lucio. "...Um..."

"Hm? Something up?"

"...Brightwing... um... think you should talk to Dehaka. He is nice really. Lot like me, but different. Not really like you, but... well, maybe you would be friends with him too?"

"I mean, why not? Guess I don't have anywhere to go but up in my relations with the zerg." Lucio looked at the zerg leading the party through the ship. "...What does he like?"

"Eating. Really likes eating. Likes eating things he has not eaten before, because they have thing called essence."

"Anything I could talk to him about?"

"Fighting, hunting. Oh, and being friends! He does not understand it, but he is trying. Very good." She gave a happy little roll in the air at that.

"...You know, you seem a lot happier than when I saw you back down in that fight in the city. You settled in here, huh?"

"Yep!"

Lucio nodded his head. "I'll be honest... it's going to take me a long time to get over what happened between the people I know and the zerg. But you oughta know that I trust you, because I can see that you... you didn't really change a bit when you were infested."

Muradin chuckled. "Well, that's nice of yer, kid. Just hope you know that most of us here have scores to settle with the zerg. Big ones."

"Yeah, yeah." Lucio shrugged. "Me too, honestly. Definitely owe Kerrigan the Rio de Janeiro special."

"The what, lad?"

"Murder." Lucio patted his sword. "Though, I guess it might legally be something else since she pretty much declared an interspecies war on humanity."

"Eh, she deserves it. Just be careful you don't go getting your lizard buddies killed when you do it."

"I'll find a way. Maybe wait a bit for a good opportunity... bleh, I sound like some corporate shmuck." Lucio stretched. "I think once we get out, I'll take a little time to get recovered and catch up with all my friends in Overwatch. Then I'll warn everyone, and fight for justice. Zerg show up again, and I'll get out there and deal with it." Lucio said.

"Fair enough." Muradin looked up at Brightwing. "...Hey you. I won't bash yer head in, on account of Lucio being a good lad. So don't go hurting him. And don't go picking fights with my lads."

"Okay, beard person."

* * *

Mira walked through the doorway. Shotgun ready. Taser ready. Singularity charged. "Knock knock." She called out, keeping her gun steady and level. There could be no mercy, no margin for error. Shoot on sight, and pray that she could take things from there.

Kerrigan was standing at the far end, mentally watching as the Hyperion was utterly overrun, as her forces chased down the intruders in her ship, as Stukov brought down the last remnants of Warhead Junction. Within ten minutes, everyone who opposed her would be dead save for the protoss, and they wouldn't be able to stand against her full might.

Well, time for her to pull her own weight, too. Just one quick thing to do... 'Izsha, I grant you full control of the leviathans. Move them as you see fit to see to our safety. And get yourself somewhere safe.'

'Yes, my queen.' Izsha retracted into the roof, safe from the coming fight. Kerrigan didn't intend to let it drag out, but she wasn't about to let her best advisor get shot.

"Mira Han! You know, the zerg don't take kindly to cold calls." Kerrigan called out condescendingly, listening out intently for Mira's return voice.

"Oh, I actually have a letter for you. From one James Raynor. Something about being sorry he can't come and kill you himself." Footsteps, talking. All giving away Mira's position. The ghost in Kerrigan grinned. Such sloppy mistakes had long been beaten out of even the dullest ghosts.

Kerrigan was connected to the leviathan. Even with a giant hole blown through it, it responded to her every thought. She willed a set of spikes to spring from the floor below Mira and impale her. A faint 'shing' came in half a second, but... no scream of pain?

Well, time to get her hands dirty. Kerrigan turned, and walked around the corner. Immediately, the blast of a shotgun crashed against her carapace. Through the smoke, she could see Mira just a touch to the left of her spikes- the fight was on.

 **Author's notes: Apologies for the delay, folks! I lost a chunk of my time I spend to write, because my college FINALLY pulled its head out of its arse and scheduled some proper teachers for my lessons. Sad that I can't write as much as quickly, but definitely not upset.**

 **Next chapter will be the finale. Unless I leave a ton of stuff unresolved. I plan to write up a few oneshots, and then...oh, ho ho ho... then...**

 **TJtrack: No way? Watch this! It's the ending where [Redacted]**

 **Stukov was the obvious choice for a traitor, because in SC2, so many of his problems are directly caused by Kerrigan that it's not even funny. Dugalle's death especially. The main reason I think he stays loyal is because there's one being he hates even more than her: Narud. And she provides him the means to take the fight back to that asshole.**

 **Sadly, not an Avengers reference... unless you want it to be. After all, Lucio is pretty well-equipped to go and do some avenging right now.**


	30. End: Release

The explosion from the end of the shotgun lit up the chamber, the noise and smoke accentuated by the confined, dark room. Mira dove to the side as Kerrigan moved her wings as pincers, trying to cut off any escape. They scored a glancing blow against Mira's shoulder, before Kerrigan took a blast of lead and other metals to the chest. Most of it bounced off harmlessly, but just a little managed to scratch the surface- her singularity was unaffected.

It was the deadly dance of combat. Mira was completely reliant on her positioning to fight, as she sprinted and dove to keep herself out of the way of Kerrigan's devastating wings. There was nothing else to keep a gap between her and her foe. And if she'd been in another situation where Kerrigan didn't have her in close-quarters, then Kerrigan would be free to annihilate her with her attacks without fear of damaging her ship.

A row of blades shot from the floor. None managed to directly pierce Mira, but one scraped painfully along the side of her leg, ripping at her bodysuit and cutting her flesh. She needed a precious half-second to extricate herself, and Kerrigan jumped right in, bringing both wings down.

Mira ducked under them with more speed than she'd ever known herself to have, deftly grabbed a small device from her chest and jammed it under Kerrigan's chin with all the force she could muster, and squeezed the trigger. The taser sent 10,000 volts through the target in a short sharp shock, enough to make even Kerrigan flinch for a split second. Mira butted her away with the sturdy end of her rifle, climbing out.

It had been ten seconds, and she knew she wasn't going to win if she didn't go all out. Mira activated the grenade launcher on the bottom of her gun and fired it, buying just a little space, an extra moment to think. She had some small bombs. She had her singularity, and she had her secret weapon. It was fairly likely only the singularity could deal any real damage here, so...

"Come and get me, Sarah! I'll blow your head clean off!"

Kerrigan neglected to respond, brushing away the damage from the grenade like it was nothing. Mira was close to the wall, bound to go one way or the other. Kiting would be impossible. So she leapt in, willing more spikes into existence- this time behind Mira, intended to pull her in. More and more shotgun blasts caught her, beginning to fracture her carapace. The singularities neutralised each other for the time being...

Mira yelped as a 'wall' moved her forwards, catching her on the back, and Kerrigan jabbed forwards with psionic force.

What hit her was equivalent to a turbo trash compactor, Kerrigan's force only leaving her alive by the power of Mira's singularity. The grasping spikes had been snapped clean in half by Kerrigan's last hit, sending Mira to the floor, sliding across the room.

Mira coughed, and lay still.

Kerrigan smirked, feeling the damage she'd taken already mostly healed. She walked over. "My, that was easy. Though you should have known better than to fight me head-on." Kerrigan leaned down. "So, what's your plan, you nobody? I don't think I ever heard your name back in Koprulu, and I never bothered to learn it in this mockery of an afterlife."

"...Afterlife?" Mira wheezed, doing her best to conceal her movements. Everything hinged on this last-ditch plan... "We're... dead?"

"Our true selves, for the most part, are just fine." Kerrigan answered. "This place, the Nexus- it makes copies of people, at the moment they do something especially significant. Our real selves never know, and just go on with life... but us? We're the copies. Pale ghosts compared to the real things. It's why we come back to life exactly the same as we were before, it's why I couldn't find a way to get back to the Koprulu Sector... We. Are. Not. Real. Not in this place, at least..."

"Then... why?" Mira didn't want to know why. She wanted those few extra seconds of monologue, to try and pull through.

"Our existence here is meaningless. No matter how I try to think, I don't believe anything I do here could have any impact. There's an unknown amount of time until we fade away... and we will fade one day- or Adun would be here- and I..." Kerrigan sighed. "I want to spend it with Raynor. I sacrificed any good relation I had to him in my early days here, when it was a necessary sacrifice to get back home. After all, he spares me, and that's enough to keep me around to fight for the existence of our universe."

"...Ah. And then..." _Come on... just keep talking like an idiot... give me my chance..._

"Then of course, I found I'd just thrown away any chance I have of making nice with him for nothing." Kerrigan crossed her arms. "Leading to my current course of action! I'm going to kill all of you, erasing your memories. And when you're back in a few months, I'll make up with everyone. So, for what it's worth... I'll make this quick. And maybe spare you some time when you come back." Kerrigan drew back.

Mira had been tensing, shuffling her arms and legs ever so slightly to be in a more agile position. The moment Kerrigan's monologue was over, she sprung up, throwing her small bomb at Kerrigan in one motion. It exploded too close to Mira to leave her unhurt, but made Kerrigan hesitate for a mere moment.

Mira clapped the side of her head, hitting a hidden switch. Her robot eye shone like a floodlight, a barrage of lasers shooting out and directly at Kerrigan, burning into her without any chance to dodge or mitigate the damage.

But...

Kerrigan seemed to shrug it off entirely. Even as thousands of watts of energy seared her form, she just reached forwards, and slapped Mira across the face.

Mira hit the floor again, the empty singularity shell dropping off next to her.

"I should tell you- Stukov was in the process of rendering that useless the whole time." Kerrigan noted. "What, you thought you had me talking? I'm a mind reader."

"G-go..."

"Go to hell, I know." Kerrigan lunged in and grabbed Mira's chest- literally, her fingers piercing the ribcage and grasping bone. "But between you and me... I think we could well be there, in this world of meaningless struggle and suffering." A surge of energy built in Kerrigan's arm, becoming stronger and building faster until it reached her fingertips. Explosively.

* * *

Matthew Horner never was sure how he'd face the end. He'd seen tens of thousands of people die. Most never expected it. Some accepted the possibility, and marched on regardless. Some died angry, sad, shocked, or rarely, with grace and well-wishes for another doomed comrade.

He went to the counter, and picked up a bottle of Deadman's Finest Rum. Not his, but... she'd understand, when she got back and found the mess.

He looked at the screen one last time. Every corridor was utterly overrun, every pocket of resistance quickly falling. Only a single, brave group remained to guard him and the controls on the bridge, and... they wouldn't last much longer.

He took a swig from the bottle.

Tasted like paint stripper.

He tried to think of some good last words, or a last message. Nothing came. He was no Raynor, with a quick, inspiring tongue. No great poet, or legendary warrior. He looked at the bottle.

"Adjutant... it's been a pleasure. Send a message to Hierarch Artanis informing him we have been completely overrun without any chance of survival, and... I then relieve you of duty."

"Acknowledged."

Relieving a robot of duty. Strangely futile, but it felt like the right thing to do. _Well, it was a useful robot._ Matthew went over to the counter again, and looked through some more of Mira's things.

He found a pistol.

Matthew looked at the weapon. Admiral Gerard DuGalle was known to have shot himself in the head in the last moments before his fleet was consumed by the zerg. The thought disgusted him. The people outside those doors were giving their lives for him, the least he could do was try to repay that.

And so, he carefully took the safety off, and stepped out of the door.

* * *

Varian kept the group moving, fighting through the zerg with all their might. It was almost impossible to face down each new foe, but with every successful strike he felt new determination flooding his body, bolstering his failing strength. He lamented the loss of his shield, even as his two-handed attacks held a deadly might. Right now, he needed to keep everyone safe, and the ability to protect oneself was critical to protecting others.

Thrall held out a hand, and a gale of wind pressed the enemy back, before he hurled flame and rock from seemingly nowhere. Spines flew back in retaliation, many piercing his armour. Thrall marched on forwards and felled the few enemies he had left standing, before siezing up and dropping to one knee. "Damn... If we still had Gazlowe, we could fortify our position."

Varian got in front of Thrall without thinking, fending off oncoming roaches. "We just have to hold out for Mira. It can't be much longer now..."

"You'd be correct." A voice carried eerily well.

The next wave of zerg came close, but halted with an impeccable order. Their movements were precise, and positioning was set up to form a wall. A familiar man walked out from between them... holding a familiar sword.

"You!" Varian pushed past Thrall, and pointed his blade at Stukov. "You- You DARE to-"

Stukov held Shalamayne in his right hand. The sword was deeply out of place with him, shiny metal and burning magic in a world of grim biological nightmares. "Are all of you currently able to walk?"

"What kind of question is that?!" Uther snapped, coming to stand at Varian's side. "Return the king's sword at once, or this will become beyond personal!"

"Tsk. You should learn manners. I do outrank you, after all." Stukov tossed Shalamayne to his mutated hand, the gaping palm enveloping the whole hilt. "And you should probably consider that if I wanted you dead, I'd have ordered my troops to overwhelm you. Unlike Kerrigan, I have the luxury of being able to focus on one task at a time, and could easily have crushed you all."

"Don't think you intimidate me." Varian kept his stance steady. "What are you going to do? If you've demands, I suggest you make use of what little patience I have left."

"Well, first of all..." Stukov held his now empty right hand forwards, and using his left he brought Shalamayne down on it swiftly, cutting it from his body. "It seems as though I was tragically bested in a one-on-one duel." He tossed Shalamayne to Varian, and the blade stuck into the floor by a few centimetres with ease. A few rivulets of dark blood welled around the tip.

Varian blinked once, and cautiously withdrew the blade. It was just the same as when he'd had it taken... Now that he could inspect it, it was obvious it had been genuinely maintained in his absence.

"But to my advantage, the group that managed to beat me carelessly wandered into the chamber on the left," Stukov gestured to a closed 'door', a sealed membrane that let a faint green glow through, now opening to reveal a room crawling with locust-like bugs, each one with a bulbous green end."And were swiftly destroyed by a baneling detonation." Stukov took a normal stone out of his pocket, and threw it in.

There was a blast of acid as five banelings exploded in response to the shock, the smell of dissolving and regenerating flesh filling the air.

"What are you... You intend to help us?" Jaina said curiously.

"Come with me, all of you. And whatever you do, don't let there be so much as a hint you're alive."

* * *

An hour had passed.

Stukov returned to the Aleksander, coming into the landing bay. By now, the outcome of Kerrigan and Mira's fight had been spread to both him and Zagara. As his overlord docked, and he dropped out, he found Dehaka waiting for him.

"We have won. Our enemies have all been either slain of subjugated."

"Yes..."

Stukov smiled. "With... a few dozen exceptions, as I'm sure our fairy friend will be glad to hear." It was a devilish smile, one filled with absolute, unfiltered glee at the payback he was about to slowly unleash.

"Brightwing is happy that friends will not die. But I did not think that you would save all of the humans and other things, friend. They are not my friends. You could have eaten them."

Stukov just kept that smile for a few extra moments, ever wary of Kerrigan contacting him, ready to seal it away at the drop of a hat. "I have some reasons of my own." He dropped his tone. "Now, you people underneath the floor. I am going to convince Kerrigan to start running recon operations in the other realms. I will smuggle you out as fast as I can, and once I do... then your life is in your own hands. Clear?"

"Gotcha." Raynor's muffled voice responded. "Mind if I ask why?"

Stukov chuckled. "Well, obviously it's more fun to hunt you down for sport." He shook his head, and became serious again. "No, you may not know why I do this. My reasons are my own."

"'Aight. Guess we'll just... chill out down here then. And Stukov?"

"Yes?"

"I'm gonna be honest with you... if any of us run into the zerg again, then we're going to shoot you to kingdom come. There's just been... more than most of us can take from you guys, between everything that happened at home, Braxis, and now probably the Hyperion and everyone on it. And you three up there at least deserve the warning to duck and cover."

"Threatening your saviours? Really?"

"Hey, if you didn't kill us before, with all the mess going on..."

"...Perhaps you're not a total fool, Raynor." Stukov said. "Merely... a little too backwater. Now, I must be on my way. Expect to recieve some more guests in due time." He looked back up to Dehaka. "And you. I'll be sending you out to escort them to somewhere safe, however little they need it. After that... you'll be joining me on the escort missions."

"..."

Brightwing answered instead, flying around. "Sound fun! Brightwing would like to see lots of places, and bet Dehaka could find essence to eat too."

Stukov nodded. "For now, just go and recover. Both of you."

* * *

The meeting between the zerg command structure; Stukov, Abathur, Zagara, Dehaka and Kerrigan took place aboard the Aleksander, since all the other vessels were currently undergoing repairs. Stukov getting off unscathed could be chalked up to the fact his ship was the only one that obviously wasn't Kerrigan's flagship, although at this point he was beginning to feel like the universe was finally giving him a little karma for his past.

"So, that's my next move- wiping out the protoss." Kerrigan finished, as she laid out battle and transport plans. "They can run, but they can't hide. I have a full six months, and a much larger army before even factoring in my signularity. No force can possibly oppose me."

"That is good, but the zerg cannot grow complacent with their powers. I will personally handle the analysis of the heroes we captured in our last attack... and executions." Stukov announced. "Zagara, how many did you manage to capture alive?"

"All of them. It was a simple task for a brood so expansive as mine... Even the greatest warriors can be subdued by numbers."

Stukov nodded. "Most excellent. I have a special thanks for you, actually. I no longer have need of the Anub'alisk... take it as your guard. I am sure it will prove a valuable tool."

"You Terrans and your 'tools'..." Zagara couldn't roll her eyes, but her tone said enough. "I am grateful for the additional strength. But, my queen, what do you intend for me to do next?"

Kerrigan stood, and looked out of the window. Dramatic, and attention-grabbing... and also concealing that for the first time, Kerrigan realised... she didn't have enough enemies to warrant any separate expeditions. "You'll come with me. We can't be too cautious against Artanis- he's a brilliant leader and strategist, trained by Tassadar himself."

"Yes, my queen."

Dehaka remained silent, as per usual.

Stukov spoke again. "I also intend to set up recon bases in all the other realms. Currently, this is not meant to be an act of aggression, but lest it be perceived as such, I suggest we stay hidden for now. We should try to get an idea of the geopolitical state of this universe if you truly plan to exist in it peacefully."

"Peace isn't my main concern. I just want to be able to live out the life that was stolen from me, again and again." Kerrigan said plainly. "But you're right, of course. It would be stupid not to watch for any potential threats, and I may have to learn how to approach those people..."

"I request you give me command of Dehaka and his forces for this. Without a hivemind connection, they are more useful for small, long-distance missions."

"Granted."

* * *

Days passed. Stukov spent them conducting extremely rigorous tests, which mainly consisted of first getting the water systems working on his ship again, and then the boiler, and finally the medical things, before subjecting each hero to _extremely_ rigorous decontamination.

Lucio, along with a great many others, was sitting under the floor of the hangar when Valla made it down. "Valla, you're okay?!" He struggled to keep his tone as low as he could, although Dehaka had been assigned as a permanent guard for Stukov's 'expedition resources' above, in case Zagara thought to spy.

"..." Valla was steaming. Considering the shower at the end of Stukov's best attempt at decontamination was kind of lukewarm and every towel had long since been consumed by microbial life...

"Wow, that's some fury." Lucio held out a hand. "Come on over, I cleared a spot for you to sit. If you need to do some stretches or something, we have an open spot by there."

Valla sat down, almost shaking. She put a hand on a piece of steel framework next to her, and started crushing it with her bare hands.

"..." Lucio gently reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Johanna will be right behind you. Anything else making you mad like this?"

There was a long, dry pause, as the others hiding below the floorboards whispered amongst themselves.

"We didn't... win." Valla said eventually.

"No, we didn't." Lucio agreed plainly. "But we're all alive, and that's what-"

"Cut it." Valla said shortly. "Mira isn't alive. And others perished too. All because we weren't strong enough to protect one another. And if not for the actions of this... Stukov... person, then we would all be in the bellies of these foul things, or worse, corrupted like your _pet._ "

"...I can't say you're wrong." Lucio admitted. "There was a bit of luck in us surviving, that's for sure. We were doing pretty well until the last few minutes, honestly- I thought we'd be able to beat the zerg. But then it all just kind of... really went south quick."

"Yes... my weakness was unacceptable. Utterly unacceptable. The others, I can... begrudgingly excuse their complacencies and shortcomings, but matters like this... they're what I trained for all my life."

"Hey, we'll get stronger, both of us. Johanna too. Just... keep a hold of yourself. Please. And... our enemy was insane. Way, way more than anything I've ever faced." Lucio said. "I know I'm just some guy that you don't know that well, but I hope you know that I think you did great, okay?"

"..." Valla grumbled. "

"Hey, maybe you and Johanna could come and visit the Overwatch outpost we set up? I'm sure everyone else would be glad to meet you, and I want to stay in touch after everything we went through."

"Tch... that's the most forward a man has ever dared to be with me without getting shot." Valla sighed. "But... I suppose, that as long as I have a target to hunt, and allies worthy of joining me... I can tolerate your idea."

"Great. Well, guess now we just wait to get set free."

* * *

'Opening a realm portal for you in three.' Kerrigan's voice sounded through Stukov's mind.

'Two. One.'

A hexagonal portal opened in Stukov's hangar, and immediately an infested command centre started walking through, laden with troops. Close behind was a set of drones and two SCVs, with Brightwing and Dehaka bringing up the rear.

Stukov watched them go through, keeping careful track of time. 'Do you think you will be able to improve your ability to create portals further, Kerrigan? It could be most valuable in locating Raynor when he returns.'

'I truthfully don't know. I can't hold this one open much longer. Perhaps we'll carry out a study of some naturally-occurring portals. I think they're more common in the smaller realms.'

'I will make notes for your benefit.' Stukov looked at the building as it crawled into a chilly mountain pass, and set down. He had to dull his train of thoughts to conceal the knowledge it had about half of Kerrigan's enemies on board. It still persisted, threatening to blow the whole operation. Stukov conjured one last topic before he closed the conversation, to buy a touch extra time. 'If I may enquire... we have no rules about dating coworkers, yes?'

'...' A fleck of amusement came through the hivemind. '...Let them be.'

Stukov tapped out, and smiled the grin of sweet revenge. "Let them be, eh? I think I will, Kerrigan. I think I will let them all be."

 **A/N: Well, that's that! This piece of dubiously interesting writing was brought to you by me, myself and I, and I hope you enjoyed it. Just going to take a second to say some stuff I never did in the fic.**

 **I ship Brightwing and Dehaka unimaginably hard, and while I'm penning my next, seriously high-effort work, I'm going to post some oneshots about them that I make while bored. Expect fluff, zerg habits, friendship, and a little more fluff.**

 **Stukov was never meant to become the protagonist, but it just sort of happened. Probably because he rightfully has a grudge against Kerrigan for the shit she puts him through.**

 **Oh, and Blizzweirdo- I'll answer your oncoming reviews by PM, since it'd be pretty awkward to respond to the all here, all at once.**

 **Have a potential kit for Mira, at least the one I used for her here. Based around having a 'bounty hunter' feel.**

 **Trait: Move out! : Create a single-use ship (or portal) that takes one hero to an area you have vision of. Limited range.**

 **Q: Grenade Mod: Fire a grenade forwards, exploding on contact with the first enemy hit and knocking them back.**

 **W: Taser: Stun a nearby target for up to 1.5 seconds. Channeled.**

 **E: Reposition: Dash a short distance, and leave behind a bomb that detonates after 0.75 seconds.**

 **R1: Laser Eyeball- Activate to increase attack speed by 3000% for 2.5 seconds, and reduce attack damage by 60%. [Passive: Mira cannot be blinded, and her sight range is increased by 30%]**

 **R2: Space Station Relocation- from her SC2 co-op mode. Deal 1000 damage in a large area after a delay.**

 **And last but not least, I want to say: Reviews are the lifeblood of motivation. They guide writers who can't find a path forward, they tell us what people want, their hopes and fears. They are an irreplaceable part of a good fic. So, TJtrack99... cheers. I couldn't possibly have done it without you. If you want a oneshot about something, you can just ask. **


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